SyntaxError: ‘Return’ Outside Function

In this post, we will see about SyntaxError: 'Return' Outside Function in Python.

This error will generally occur when you do not put the return statement indentation properly with function definition.

💡 Did you know?

Unlike C,C++ or java, Python uses whitespace for indentation. All statements which are at same distance on right belong to same block.

There can be two main reasons for this issue.

Wrong indentation

Let’s see this with the help of example.
Here is simple function to get multiplication of two numbers.

When you execute above program, you will get below error.

We are getting this error because return z is inline with def multiplicationOfNumber(x,y): but it should be in same block with z=x*y.

Let’s move return z to z=x*y block, you won’t see the error any more.
Below slider will help you understand it better.
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When you execute above program, you will get below error.

Return statement without defining function

Another reason for this error can be if you did not define a function and still using return statement.

When you execute above program, you will get below error.

You can solve this error by putting statements in function as multiplicationOfNumber and correctly indenting return statement.

That’s all about SyntaxError: ‘Return’ Outside Function in Python