The SQL INSERT INTO Statement is used to add new rows of data to a table in the database.
Syntax
There are two basic syntaxes of the INSERT INTO statement which are shown below.
INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME (column1, column2, column3,...columnN) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...valueN);Here, column1, column2, column3,...columnN are the names of the columns in the table into which you want to insert the data.
You may not need to specify the column(s) name in the SQL query if you are adding values for all the columns of the table. But make sure the order of the values is in the same order as the columns in the table.
The SQL INSERT INTO syntax will be as follows −
INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME VALUES (value1,value2,value3,...valueN);Example
The following statements would create six records in the CUSTOMERS table.
INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY) VALUES (1, 'Ramesh', 32, 'Ahmedabad', 2000.00 ); INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY) VALUES (2, 'Khilan', 25, 'Delhi', 1500.00 ); INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY) VALUES (3, 'kaushik', 23, 'Kota', 2000.00 ); INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY) VALUES (4, 'Chaitali', 25, 'Mumbai', 6500.00 ); INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY) VALUES (5, 'Hardik', 27, 'Bhopal', 8500.00 ); INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY) VALUES (6, 'Komal', 22, 'MP', 4500.00 );You can create a record in the CUSTOMERS table by using the second syntax as shown below.
INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS VALUES (7, 'Muffy', 24, 'Indore', 10000.00 );All the above statements would produce the following records in the CUSTOMERS table as shown below.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+ | ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY | +----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+ | 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 2000.00 | | 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500.00 | | 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000.00 | | 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai | 6500.00 | | 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 8500.00 | | 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 4500.00 | | 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 10000.00 | +----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+Populate one table using another table
You can populate the data into a table through the select statement over another table; provided the other table has a set of fields, which are required to populate the first table.
Here is the syntax −
INSERT INTO first_table_name [(column1, column2, ... columnN)] SELECT column1, column2, ...columnN FROM second_table_name [WHERE condition];The SQL INSERT INTO Statement
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
INSERT INTO Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two ways:
1. Specify both the column names and the values to be inserted:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3, ...)
VALUES (value1, value2, value3, ...);
2. If you are adding values for all the columns of the table, you do not need to specify the column names in the SQL query. However, make sure the order of the values is in the same order as the columns in the table. Here, the INSERT INTO syntax would be as follows:
INSERT INTO table_name
VALUES (value1, value2, value3, ...);
Demo Database
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:
89 | White Clover Markets | Karl Jablonski | 305 - 14th Ave. S. Suite 3B | Seattle | 98128 | USA |
90 | Wilman Kala | Matti Karttunen | Keskuskatu 45 | Helsinki | 21240 | Finland |
91 | Wolski | Zbyszek | ul. Filtrowa 68 | Walla | 01-012 | Poland |
INSERT INTO Example
The following SQL statement inserts a new record in the "Customers" table:
Example
INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, Country)
VALUES ('Cardinal', 'Tom B. Erichsen', 'Skagen 21', 'Stavanger', '4006', 'Norway');
Try it Yourself »
The selection from the "Customers" table will now look like this:
89 | White Clover Markets | Karl Jablonski | 305 - 14th Ave. S. Suite 3B | Seattle | 98128 | USA |
90 | Wilman Kala | Matti Karttunen | Keskuskatu 45 | Helsinki | 21240 | Finland |
91 | Wolski | Zbyszek | ul. Filtrowa 68 | Walla | 01-012 | Poland |
92 | Cardinal | Tom B. Erichsen | Skagen 21 | Stavanger | 4006 | Norway |
Did you notice that we did not insert any number into the CustomerID field?
The CustomerID column is an auto-increment field and will be generated automatically when a new record is inserted into the table.
Insert Data Only in Specified Columns
It is also possible to only insert data in specific columns.
The following SQL statement will insert a new record, but only insert data in the "CustomerName", "City", and "Country" columns (CustomerID will be updated automatically):
Example
INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, City, Country)
VALUES ('Cardinal', 'Stavanger', 'Norway');
Try it Yourself »
The selection from the "Customers" table will now look like this:
89 | White Clover Markets | Karl Jablonski | 305 - 14th Ave. S. Suite 3B | Seattle | 98128 | USA |
90 | Wilman Kala | Matti Karttunen | Keskuskatu 45 | Helsinki | 21240 | Finland |
91 | Wolski | Zbyszek | ul. Filtrowa 68 | Walla | 01-012 | Poland |
92 | Cardinal | null | null | Stavanger | null | Norway |