Forum Discussion
Leading zeros in excel spreadsheet
Excel remove the leading zero's in my zip code column. I have tried everything to change formatting. It will correct while I am working in the file, but I save it and the zero's go away again. I need...
JillRipley I see. Assuming you are on a PC, Excel opens a CSV file automatically, splitting the texts at the comma's and applying what it thinks to be the most appropriate data type for the columns generated.
Rename the CSV file to one with a TXT extension. Then from within Excel, open the TXT file. A Text Import Wizard will open . In step 1, choose "Delimited". Press Next. In step 2 select Comma as the delimiter. Press next. Now select the column that holds the ZIP codes. It says "general" at the top. In the top left part of the window, select Text. Then press Finish. Now, the Zip column will have retained the leading zero's. See attached.