# Inserting Data

To insert data, use the `INSERT INTO` statement specifying the table and
the column values. For example:

```default
INSERT INTO my_keyspace.users (user_id, first_name, last_name, age)
  VALUES (123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000, 'Polly', 'Partition', 77);
```

Let’s break down the components of this `INSERT INTO` statement:

**Keyspace and Table**

`my_keyspace.users`: This specifies the keyspace and table into which you
want to insert data. In this example, it’s inserting data into a table named
`users` within the `my_keyspace` keyspace.

**Column Names**

`(user_id, first_name, last_name, age)`: This part of the statement specifies
the column names in the table to which you want to insert data.

**VALUES Clause**

`VALUES (123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000, 'Polly', 'Partition', 77)`:
This part of the statement specifies the values that you want to insert into
the corresponding columns. `123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000` is being
inserted into the `user_id` column (without quotes) as it is an `uuid` data
type. `'Polly', 'Partition'` (enclosed in single quotes) are being inserted into
the `first_name`, `last_name` columns. `77` is being inserted into
the `age` column (without quotes) as it is an `int` data type.

#### NOTE
Unlike in SQL, `INSERT INTO` does not check the prior existence of the row by default:
the row is created if none existed before, and updated otherwise.
This behavior can be changed by using ScyllaDB’s
[Lightweight Transaction](https://docs.scylladb.com/manual/stable/features/lwt.html)
`IF NOT EXISTS` or `IF EXISTS` clauses.

In summary, the `INSERT INTO` statement in ScyllaDB is used to insert a new
row of data into a specific table within a keyspace. It requires you to specify
the keyspace, table, column names, and the corresponding values that you want
to insert into those columns. This allows you to add data to your tables in
ScyllaDB for subsequent retrieval and querying.

See the details about the [INSERT statement](https://docs.scylladb.com/manual/stable/cql/dml/insert.html)
in the ScyllaDB documentation.