You can use the following methods to convert multiple columns to numeric using the dplyr package:
Method 1: Convert Specific Columns to Numeric
library(dplyr) df %>% mutate_at(c('col1', 'col2'), as.numeric)
Method 2: Convert All Character Columns to Numeric
library(dplyr) df %>% mutate_if(is.character, as.numeric)
The following examples show how to use each method in practice.
Example 1: Convert Specific Columns to Numeric
Suppose we have the following data frame in R:
#create data frame df frame(team=c('A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'), position=c('G', 'G', 'G', 'F', 'F'), assists=c('33', '28', '31', '39', '34'), rebounds=c('30', '28', '24', '24', '28')) #view structure of data frame str(df) 'data.frame': 5 obs. of 4 variables: $ team : chr "A" "B" "C" "D" ... $ position: chr "G" "G" "G" "F" ... $ assists : chr "33" "28" "31" "39" ... $ rebounds: chr "30" "28" "24" "24" ...
We can see that every column in the data frame is currently a character.
To convert just the assists and rebounds columns to numeric, we can use the following syntax:
library(dplyr) #convert assists and rebounds columns to numeric df % mutate_at(c('assists', 'rebounds'), as.numeric) #view structure of updated data frame str(df) 'data.frame': 5 obs. of 4 variables: $ team : chr "A" "B" "C" "D" ... $ position: chr "G" "G" "G" "F" ... $ assists : num 33 28 31 39 34 $ rebounds: num 30 28 24 24 28
We can see that the assists and rebounds columns are now both numeric.
Example 2: Convert All Character Columns to Numeric
Suppose we have the following data frame in R:
#create data frame df frame(ranking=factor(c(1, 4, 3, 2, 5)), assists=c('12', '10', '8', '11', '15'), points=c('33', '28', '31', '39', '34'), rebounds=c('30', '28', '24', '24', '28')) #view structure of data frame str(df) 'data.frame': 5 obs. of 4 variables: $ ranking : Factor w/ 5 levels "1","2","3","4",..: 1 4 3 2 5 $ assists : chr "12" "10" "8" "11" ... $ points : chr "33" "28" "31" "39" ... $ rebounds: chr "30" "28" "24" "24" ...
We can see that three of the columns in the data frame are character columns.
To convert all of the character columns to numeric, we can use the following syntax:
library(dplyr) #convert all character columns to numeric df % mutate_if(is.character, as.numeric) #view structure of updated data frame str(df) 'data.frame': 5 obs. of 4 variables: $ ranking : Factor w/ 5 levels "1","2","3","4",..: 1 4 3 2 5 $ assists : num 12 10 8 11 15 $ points : num 33 28 31 39 34 $ rebounds: num 30 28 24 24 28
We can see that all of the character columns are now numeric.
Note: Refer to the dplyr documentation page for a complete explanation of the mutate_at and mutate_if functions.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in R:
How to Convert Factor to Numeric in R
How to Convert Date to Numeric in R