Checking if an Element exists in a PHP Array

To check if an element exists in a PHP array, you can use the in_array($search, $array, $mode) function. The $search parameter specifies the element or value to search in the specified array and can be of a mixed type (string, integer, or other types). If the parameter is a string type, the search will be case-sensitive. The $array parameter specifies the array to search for the value. The $mode parameter is an optional boolean parameter that specifies the search mode. If the parameter is set to TRUE, then the in_array() function will search for a value with the same value type as specified in the "search" parameter. The default value for the "mode" parameter is FALSE. In this PHP Search In Array example, we use the in_array() function to check whether the given value exists in the array. Click Execute to run the PHP In Array Example online and see the result.
Checking if an Element exists in a PHP Array Execute 
<?php
$name = array('Alice', 'Jack', 'Leo', 'Dora');

if (in_array('Jack', $name)){
  echo "Found";
}
else {
  echo "Found";
}
?>
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PHP In Array Syntax

Following is the syntax of the in_array() function:

PHP in_array() Syntax
in_array(search, array, mode)

Where:
  • search: specifies the element or value to look up in the given array
  • array: specifying an array to search for a value
  • mode (Optional): specifies the mode to perform the search. If set to "TRUE", the in_array() function searches for the search-string and specific type in the array. The default value for this parameter is "FALSE".
PHP in_array() Example
<?php
$name = array('Alice', 'Jack', 'Leo', 'Dora');

if (in_array('Jack', $name)){
  echo "Found";
}
else {
  echo "Found";
}
?>

#output: Found

See also

PHP In Array Related API examples and articles