Inserting data into a table with an identity column
The following example shows different methods of inserting data into an identity column. The first two INSERT statements allow identity values to be generated for the new rows. The third INSERT statement overrides the IDENTITY property for the column with the SET IDENTITY_INSERT statement and inserts an explicit value into the identity column.



USE AdventureWorks;
GO
IF OBJECT_ID ('dbo.T1', 'U') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE dbo.T1;
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.T1 ( column_1 int IDENTITY, column_2 VARCHAR(30));
GO
INSERT T1 VALUES ('Row #1');
INSERT T1 (column_2) VALUES ('Row #2');
GO
SET IDENTITY_INSERT T1 ON;
GO
INSERT INTO T1 (column_1,column_2) 
    VALUES (-99, 'Explicit identity value');
GO
SELECT column_1, column_2
FROM T1;
GO