Microsoft Access Append Query Examples and SQL INSERT
President of FMS Inc. (portions from the Access help file)
Adding Records with Append Queries (Insert Queries)
An Append Query is an action query (SQL statement) that adds records
to a table. An Append query is often referred to as an Insert Query
because the SQL syntax uses the INSERT INTO command.
Append Query Option when Designing Queries in MS Access 2013
Append Query Option when Designing Queries in MS Access 2007 and 2010
Append Queries are
very powerful and lets you combine data from multiple tables and/or
queries, specify criteria and put them into fields of an
existing table. Think of it as a SELECT query where you
can save the results in a table. The field names of the
source and target tables do not need to match. In fact,
you can create expressions to combine fields, use VBA
functions, etc., to insert new values into the table.
Append Queries make it easy to save data at a point
in time, use the data for temporary analysis, and
display it in forms and reports. Of course, once in the
new table, any edits in the new table do not impact the data in the
original source. If that's needed, stick to SELECT
Designing an Append/Insert Query
From the Microsoft Access query designer, you can interactively
create a query and specify its type. When you select Append, you are
prompted to enter the name of the table that you want to insert records:
Specify the name of the table from the combo box. The table should
already exist in your database.
The query designer is similar to how you'd create a
SELECT query. You can specify criteria, create
expressions, link between multiple tables and queries,
etc. The difference is an "Append To" row that specifies
which field in the target table each column is inserted
Notice in the example above that the Source field is
called Memo that is being inserted into the Description
field of the target table. Append Queries make it easy
to put fields into different field names. It can also be
an expression (formula) that's inserted into a field.
Once the query is saved, you can run it to insert the
records into your target table. If you want just this
query's results in that table, empty the table first
before running the append query. You can create a
Delete Query to empty
all the records and run that first.
Append Query versus Make Table Query
A Make Table query lets you take a SELECT
query and create a new table with the results. Some
people use that for temporary situations, but we prefer to use append queries with
a template table that is emptied before running the
append query. Note that this does not apply to
situations where an Append Query is used to insert
records into a table that wouldn't be emptied first.
Make Table Queries are Lazy
People often use Make Table queries because it's
quick and easy. The table is created with the latest
data and there's no need to predefine it. Unfortunately,
this causes other problems.
Why Append Queries are Preferable to Make Table
There are several advantages to using a pre-existing
"template" table to insert records:
A Template Table Can Have Features a Make Table
Query Cannot Specify
A Make Table query cannot create a new table with
features that impact performance, data integrity, data
validation and field formatting. For instance, your
table should have a primary key and it may need indexes,
or a combo box lookup, or field input masks or
validation rules. A Make Table query does not do that.
Field Names and Data Types are Explicitly Defined in
Make Table queries create fields on-the-fly based on
the source table's fields, but that can change and may
be a problem if you are using expressions and it creates
a type you're not expecting. By defining the table
fields explicitly for an Append Query, there are fewer
problems when you use the results. For instance, you may
want number fields to be long integer or doubles, text
fields to have a specific length, etc.
The Template Table May Have Felds that are Not in
An Append Query lets you insert records into your
target table, but you are not required to enter values
in every field. That lets you simply fill in the fields
that you need from your query, and separates your query
that inserts records from fields that may be unrelated
(maybe fields that some other process fills-in).
A Make Table query would need to explicitly create
those fields if a subsequent process needed them.
An Append Query may be Part of Multiple Queries
If you need to generate records based on different
sources and criteria, it may not be possible to do in a
single query. You may need multiple Append Queries to
collect the data into your table.
One could use a Make Table query to start the
process, then run the additional Append Queries to
supplement the records, but there are some drawbacks to
- The table created by the Make Table query could
create a conflict with all the other Append Queries
if the field names or types change
- The Make Table query would always be the first
query. Using just Append Queries, you'll be able to
reorder or omit any of the queries
The use of Append Queries is helpful for using
temporary tables. Read this paper for related
information on Dealing with Non-Updateable Microsoft
Access Queries and the Use of Temporary Tables
The INSERT query appends records to the bottom of
Multiple Record Append Query
INSERT INTO target [(field1[, field2[, …]])]
SELECT [source.]field1[, field2[, …]]
The UPDATE statement has these parts:
||The name of the table to insert (append) the
||Field names to receive the new values (order
needs to match the fields in the SELECT source section)
||The IN clause is used if data goes to a table
in another database. The full path of the database in quotes should
||Similar to a standard SELECT statement, the
list of fields here must match the order of the fields in the target
field list (could also be replaced with a query)
||JOIN clause if linking to another table(s) to
specify which records are retrieved
||An expression that
determines which records are updated. Only records that satisfy the
expression are updated.
Single Record Append Query
You can also use an INSERT query to add one record to
a table without the data coming from a table. Specify
the name and value for each field of the record to add.
If you do not specify a field, the default value or Null
is inserted in it.
INSERT INTO target [(field1[, field2[, …]])]
VALUES (value1[, value2[, …]])
You can also use INSERT INTO to append a set of
records from another table or query by using the SELECT
… FROM clause as shown above in the multiple-record
append query syntax. In this case, the SELECT clause
specifies the fields to append to the specified target
table. The source or target table may specify a table or
If a query is specified, the Microsoft Access
database engine appends records to any and all tables
specified by the query. INSERT INTO is optional but when
included, precedes the SELECT statement.
If your destination table contains a primary key,
make sure you append unique, non-Null values to the
primary key field or fields; if you do not, the
Microsoft Access database engine will not append the
records. If you append records to a table with an
AutoNumber field and you want to renumber the appended
records, do not include the AutoNumber field in your
query. Do include the AutoNumber field in the query if
you want to retain the original values from the field.
Use the IN clause to append records to a table in
another database. To create a new table, use the
SELECT… INTO statement instead to create a
make-table query. To find out which records will be
appended before you run the append query, first execute
and view the results of a select query that uses the
same selection criteria. An append query copies records
from one or more tables to another. The tables that
contain the records you append are not affected by the
append query. Instead of appending existing records from
another table, you can specify the value for each field
in a single new record using the VALUES clause. If you
omit the field list, the VALUES clause must include a
value for every field in the table; otherwise, the
INSERT operation will fail. Use an additional INSERT
INTO statement with a VALUES clause for each additional
record you want to create.
- To avoid situations where a field name conflicts with a reserved
word or if field names have spaces, use brackets around them.
- You can view the query before you run it by switching to
DataSheet. For INSERT
queries, the fields and data being added are displayed.
Make sure you spend the time to understand how to create and use
Insert/Append Queries in MS Access.
They are extremely powerful in moving and combining data from one table
to another. They also simplify complex processes by letting you collect
and format data from different sources or criteria into one table that
can then be used to drive reports and form displays.
Keeping the data logic in queries is often much easier to maintain and debug than
complex module code. The performance of queries on large
data sets can also be significantly faster.
confronted with the limitations of what you can do with SQL Syntax, you
can supplement Access queries with your own VBA functions letting
Access take care of adding the records, while you focus on the
Hope this helps!
Copyright © 2014, FMS Inc. All
rights reserved. This information may not be republished, reprinted or
retransmitted in any form without the express written permission of FMS
Inc. The information provided in this document is provided "as is"
without warranty of any kind.