Insert may refer to any of the following:
- In general, the term insert describes placing an object within another object. For example, placing a diskette or disc into a drive could also be phrased as inserting a disk into the computer.
Another example is inserting text, which is moving your text cursor using your arrow keys or mouse and typing one or more letters. For example, you could click anywhere in the following text box, and when you begin typing, you’re inserting new text into that text box.
In some programs (not browsers) how text is inserted may depend on the insert mode. For programs that support different insert modes, newly inserted text can either be added to the text around the cursor or overwrite other text.
- Insert or Ins is a key on a computer keyboard. See our Insert key definition for further information on this term.
Related information
- How to insert an image in a text file or document.
Insert is a file menu and Ribbon section in software that allows the user to add something (e.g., picture) into a document or file. For example, in Microsoft Word, the user may use the Insert tab in the Ribbon to insert a picture of themselves into their document.
When referring to HTML, the tag indicates that a section of text was inserted into a web page.
To access the Insert option using the keyboard, use either the Alt+I or Alt+N keyboard shortcut.
Hardware terms, Input, Insert mode, Overtype mode, Paste, Software terms
