Excel SQL Insert Generator App

Posted on by llamswerdna

During my undergrad studies, I took a class in database development and SQL which focused on RDBMS systems. The class required us to design, build, and populate tables in an Oracle PL/SQL environment. Because of the large amount of data I would have to generate and populate, I decided to build an Excel tool to generate the INSERT scripts rather than writing all the code by hand, which would be both tedious and more error prone.

I built the Insert Script Generator to solve those problems, and I later expanded it to support both SQL Server (Transact SQL) and MySQL in addition to PL/SQL. While these systems all have various methods for importing data (from BCP and PowerShell to bulk import commands to import/export wizards), those methods can be finicky and aren’t always the best choice, especially for one-off imports. As a result, this little tool has come in super handy over the years.

Try it out

To try out the Insert Script Generator, follow the instructions below:

  1. Download the latest version of the Insert Script Generator.
  2. Ensure Excel Macros are turned on, and click Allow or dismiss any warnings when opening the file.
  3. On the Start Here tab, select your SQL / RDBMS type from the Platform dropdown

  4. Enter the names of the columns you want to insert to and select a column format from the dropdown.


    Use the following reference to determine the format for each column:
    • Unquoted Number for money, integers, or decimals. You can also use this for BIT datatypes that are already formatted as 1 or 0.
    • Quoted Character Data for VARCHAR, CHAR, and NVARCHAR datatypes.
    • Date for dates with no time
    • Datetime for dates with times
    • Time for time with no date
    • Function for direct passthrough of unquoted input, e.g. SYSDATETIME()
    • Boolean to convert TRUE/FALSE values to BITs
  5. Click the Add New Sheet button. The tool will create a new tab, named for the table name you entered.
  6. On your new tab, enter your data, starting in row 3.

  7. Click the Generate Insert Script button to generate your SQL file