Insert

Updated: 04/12/2021 by Computer Hope

Insert may refer to any of the following:

Compact disc being inserted into a laptop CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) drive.

1. 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 be added to the text around the cursor or overwrite other text.

2. Insert or Ins is a key on a computer keyboard. See our Insert key definition for further information on this term.

3. Insert is a file menu and Ribbon section in software that allows the user to add something (e.g., a picture) into a document or file. For example, in Microsoft Word, users may use the Insert tab in the Ribbon to insert a picture of themselves into their document.

Tip

To access the Insert option using the keyboard, use either the Alt+I or Alt+N keyboard shortcut.

4. With HTML (hypertext markup language), the <ins> tag indicates that a section of text was inserted into a web page.

Hardware terms, Input, Insert mode, Overtype mode, Paste, Software terms