SQL Tutorial for Beginners: SQL INSERT INTO Statement

Learn about SQL INSERT INTO Statement with the help of examples. Learn how to add new rows of data to a SQL table with the SQL INSERT INTO statement

In SQL, the INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new rows in a database table.

Example

-- insert a row in the Customers table
INSERT INTO Customers(customer_id, first_name, last_name, age, country)
VALUES
(7, 'Ron', 'Weasley', 31, 'UK');

Here, the SQL command inserts a new row into the Customers table with the given values.

INSERT INTO Syntax

The syntax of the SQL INSERT INTO statement is:

INSERT INTO table_name(column1, column2, column3, ...)
VALUES
(value11, value12, value13, ...)
(value21, value22, value23, ...)
... ;

Here,

• table_name is the name of the table into which the rows are to be inserted
• column1, column2, column3, ... are the names of columns where the values are to be inserted
• value11, value12, value13, ..., value21, value22, value23, ... are the values to be inserted

Insert Row Into a Table

In SQL, the INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new row(s) into a database table.

For example,

-- insert a row in the Customers table
INSERT INTO Customers(customer_id, first_name, last_name, age, country)
VALUES
(5, 'Harry', 'Potter', 31, 'USA');

Here, the SQL command inserts a new row into the Customers table with the given values.

Example: SQL Insert Into

Skip Auto Incremented Fields While Inserting a Row

In a database table, the ID field is usually unique and auto incremented. In such cases, we can omit the value for that column during row insertion. For example,

-- insert a row to Customers table
-- skip auto incremented customer_id column
INSERT INTO Customers(first_name, last_name, age, country)
VALUES
('James', 'Bond', 48, 'USA');

Here, the SQL command automatically sets the new customer_id for the new row and inserts it in a table.

Example: SQL INSERT INTO

Insert Multiple Rows at Once in SQL

It's also possible to insert multiple rows to a database table at once. For example,

INSERT INTO Customers(first_name, last_name, age, country)
VALUES
('Harry', 'Potter', 31, 'USA'),
('Chris', 'Hemsworth', 43, 'USA'),
('Tom', 'Holland', 26, 'UK');

Here, the SQL command inserts three rows to the Customers table.

#sql