Adding Data with INSERT

Now let’s add some data to your table. The INSERT command adds new rows to your table.

Insert a Single Row

INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES ('alice', 'alice@example.com');

What this does:

• INSERT INTO users = tells MySQL to add data to the users table
• (username, email) = specifies which fields we’re providing values for
• VALUES ('alice', 'alice@example.com') = the actual data to insert

Important: The order of values must match the order of fields. In this example, the first value (‘alice’) goes into the first field (username), and the second value (‘alice@example.com’) goes into the second field (email).

Note: We don’t include the id field because it has AUTO_INCREMENT - MySQL will automatically assign the next available number (1, 2, 3, etc.).

Insert Multiple Rows

You can add multiple users at once:

INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES
  ('bob', 'bob@example.com'),
  ('charlie', 'charlie@example.com'),
  ('diana', 'diana@example.com');

Check Your Data

After inserting data, run SELECT * FROM users; again to see your table now has data:

View Specific Fields

You can also select only certain fields:

SELECT username, email FROM users;

This will show only the username and email columns, not the id.