Python MongoDB - Limit Query

Last Updated : 15 Jul, 2025

In PyMongo, the limit() method is used to restrict the number of documents returned by a query. It’s especially useful when you want to preview only a few records from a large dataset.

Syntax

collection.find().limit(n)

Parameter: n (int) is the maximum number of documents to return.

Here is our sample data.

Python

from pymongo import MongoClient
c = MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
db = c['grpDB']
col = db['sales']

data = [
    {"_id": 1, "user": "Amit", "product": "Pen", "amount": 5},
    {"_id": 2, "user": "Drew", "product": "Pencil", "amount": 3},
    {"_id": 3, "user": "Amit", "product": "Notebook", "amount": 15},
    {"_id": 4, "user": "Cody", "product": "Pen", "amount": 7},
    {"_id": 5, "user": "Drew", "product": "Notebook", "amount": 12},
    {"_id": 6, "user": "Cody", "product": "Eraser", "amount": 2},
    {"_id": 7, "user": "Amit", "product": "Pen", "amount": 10}
]

col.delete_many({})
col.insert_many(data)
print("Data inserted.")

Output

Data inserted.

Explanation:

MongoClient() connects to the MongoDB server running on localhost at the default port 27017.
delete_many({}) clears any existing documents from the collection to prevent duplicate entries.
insert_many(data) inserts the list of sample documents into the collection.

Examples

Example 1: Limit to first 3 documents

Python

#Driver Code Starts
from pymongo import MongoClient
c = MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
db = c['grpDB']
col = db['sales']

#Driver Code Ends

res = col.find().limit(3)
for doc in res:

#Driver Code Starts
    print(doc)
#Driver Code Ends

Output

Explanation: find().limit(3) returns only the first 3 documents from the collection.

Example 2: Combine with sort

Python

from pymongo import MongoClient
c = MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
db = c['grpDB']
col = db['sales']

res = col.find().sort("amount", -1).limit(2)
for doc in res:
    print(doc)

Output

Explanation: Sorts the documents by amount in descending order and limits the output to the top 2.

Example 3: Limit results based on a filter

Python

from pymongo import MongoClient
c = MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/")
db = c['grpDB']
col = db['sales']

res = col.find({"user": "Cody"}).limit(1)
for doc in res:
    print(doc)