SQL INSERT INTO SELECT Statement

The SQL INSERT INTO SELECT Statement

The INSERT INTO SELECT statement copies data from one table and inserts it into another table.

The INSERT INTO SELECT statement requires that the data types in source and target tables match.

The existing records in the target table are unaffected.

INSERT INTO SELECT Syntax

Copy all columns from one table to another table:

INSERT INTO table2
SELECT * 
FROM table1
WHERE condition

Copy only some columns from one table into another table:

INSERT INTO table2 (column1, column2, column3, ...)
SELECT column1, column2, column3, ...
FROM table1
WHERE condition

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
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	5021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	5023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden

And a selection from the "Suppliers" table:

SupplierID	SupplierName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country	Phone
1	Exotic Liquid	Charlotte Cooper	49 Gilbert St.	Londona	EC1 4SD	UK	(171) 555-2222
2	New Orleans Cajun Delights	Shelley Burke	P.O. Box 78934	New Orleans	70117	USA	(100) 555-4822
3	Grandma Kelly's Homestead	Regina Murphy	707 Oxford Rd.	Ann Arbor	48104	USA	(313) 555-5735
4	Tokyo Traders	Yoshi Nagase	9-8 Sekimai Musashino-shi	Tokyo	100	Japan	(03) 3555-5011
5	Cooperativa de Quesos 'Las Cabras'	Antonio del Valle Saavedra	Calle del Rosal 4	Oviedo	33007	Spain	(98) 598 76 54

SQL INSERT INTO SELECT Examples

The following SQL statement copies "Suppliers" into "Customers" (the columns that are not filled with data, will contain NULL):

INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, City, Country)
SELECT SupplierName, City, Country 
FROM Suppliers

The following SQL statement copies "Suppliers" into "Customers" (fill all columns):

INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, Country)
SELECT SupplierName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, Country 
FROM Suppliers

The following SQL statement copies only the German suppliers into "Customers":

INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, City, Country)
SELECT SupplierName, City, Country 
FROM Suppliers
WHERE Country = 'Germany'