Dropping variable and saving it

[Mazvita Shereen]

Hi everyone

How can I

Remove a variable from a dataset, but save it in such a way that you can merge it back to the main dataset if needed.

[Carlo Lazzaro]

Mazvita:
welcome to this forum.
The best approach that springs to my mind is saving two copies of the same dataset and omit the variable of interest in one of them.

[Nick Cox]

Just as simple is to ignore a variable when you want it ignored and to include in manipulations when you want it included.

What is the context here?

You may drop a variable when you are confident that it is irrelevant to what you want to do, or just wrong from some point of view. Unless memory is a really big issue the hassle of a merge to include it once more is not usually worth any temporary benefit.