SQL INSERT INTO Statement

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

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 in the Customers table with the given values.

Note: If we need to insert data from any other existing table , we can use the SQL INSERT INTO SELECT statement.

Insert Row Providing Value Explicitly

It's possible to provide default values to a column (for example, auto incrementing a column). In a database table, the ID field is usually unique auto incremented.

In such cases, we can omit the value for that column during row insertion. For example,

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.

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.

INSERT INTO Customers
VALUES
(5, 'Chris', 'Evans', 42, 'USA');

INSERT INTO Customers(first_name, last_name, age)
VALUES
('Brad', 'Pitt', 58);