The SQL Server INSERT INTO statement is used to add new rows of data to a table in the database.

Syntax

Following are the two basic syntaxes of INSERT INTO statement.

INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME [(column1, column2, column3,...columnN)]   
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...valueN); 

Where column1, column2,…columnN are the names of the columns in the table into which you want to insert data.

You need not 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. Following is the SQL INSERT INTO syntax −

INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME VALUES (value1,value2,value3,...valueN);

Example

Following statements will create six records in 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 );

Syntax

You can create a record in CUSTOMERS table using second syntax as follows −

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS VALUES (7, ''Muffy'', 24, ''Indore'', 10000.00 );

All the above statements will produce the following records in CUSTOMERS table −

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 data into a table through SELECT statement over another table provided another table has a set of fields, which are required to populate first table. Following is the syntax −

INSERT INTO first_table_name  
   SELECT column1, column2, ...columnN  
      FROM second_table_name 
      [WHERE condition];