Working With Leading Zeros in Excel
July 2nd, 2009Many of our customers export a CSV file of their business card contacts. One of the most popular questions we are asked is why the zero (0) is removed at the beginning of the ZIP/Postal Code for a contact. This seems to only be an issue with Microsoft Excel. Microsoft calls leading zeros, “insignificant digits” and removes them.
Here’s a simple way to fix the issue in Excel 2007 (it might work in previous versions as well). When you open the file in Excel, select the column with he ZIP/Postal code. Then right click on the column and select Format Cells. Select the Special option and pick ZIP Code. This will force the leading 0 to display. This works in Excel 2007.
You can also find more information on the Microsoft Support website. There’s also information about creating custom formats for specific columns and rows.
Why Microsoft doesn’t offer a global setting that allows a CSV file to be opened exactly as it is presented to Excel is beyond me. Perhaps in Office 2012 they will add this option.
