SQL INSERT INTO Statement
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
The SQL INSERT INTO Statement
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
SQL INSERT INTO Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.
The first form does not specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:
INSERT INTO table_name
VALUES (value1,value2,value3,...);
The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1,column2,column3,...)
VALUES (value1,value2,value3,...);
Demo Database
In this tutorial we will use the well-known Northwind sample database.
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Wartian Herkku | Pirkko Koskitalo | Torikatu 38 | Oulu | 90110 | Finland |
| 88 | Wellington Importadora | Paula Parente | Rua do Mercado, 12 | Resende | 08737-363 | Brazil |
| 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
Assume we wish to insert a new row in the "Customers" table.
We can use the following SQL statement:
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:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Wartian Herkku | Pirkko Koskitalo | Torikatu 38 | Oulu | 90110 | Finland |
| 88 | Wellington Importadora | Paula Parente | Rua do Mercado, 12 | Resende | 08737-363 | Brazil |
| 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 automatically updated with a unique number for each record in 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 row, but only insert data in the "CustomerName", "City", and "Country" columns (and the CustomerID field will of course also 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:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Wartian Herkku | Pirkko Koskitalo | Torikatu 38 | Oulu | 90110 | Finland |
| 88 | Wellington Importadora | Paula Parente | Rua do Mercado, 12 | Resende | 08737-363 | Brazil |
| 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 |