How to Insert Data in Redshift
Last updated July 25, 2026 · By the SaturnSQL team
Use INSERT INTO ... VALUES for a handful of rows or INSERT ... SELECT for query results. For anything bulk, use COPY from S3 instead: single-row INSERTs are the slowest possible way to load Redshift.
INSERT INTO orders (customer_id, amount)
VALUES (101, 42.50), (102, 17.00);Insert from a query
INSERT INTO orders_archive
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE created_at < '2025-01-01';Redshift is columnar, so each INSERT statement has high fixed overhead regardless of row count. Batch rows into multi-row VALUES lists, or better, stage files in S3 and load them with COPY.
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