SQL Insert Into Select

The SQL INSERT INTO SELECT Statement

Data is copied from one table and inserted into another table using the INSERT INTO SELECT query.

The data types in the source and target tables must match for the INSERT INTO SELECT statement to function.

Note: Nothing changes for the records that are currently in the target table.

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;

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.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico

And a selection from the “Suppliers” table:

SupplierID	SupplierName	ContactName	Address	City	Postal Code	Country
1	Exotic Liquid	Charlotte Cooper	49 Gilbert St.	Londona	EC1 4SD	UK
2	New Orleans Cajun Delights	Shelley Burke	P.O. Box 78934	New Orleans	70117	USA
3	Grandma Kelly's Homestead	Regina Murphy	707 Oxford Rd.	Ann Arbor	48104	USA

Copy “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;

Copy “Suppliers” into “Customers” (fill all columns):

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