Leading Zero Drop Off

Do you have leading zeros in your import files? If so, re-opening a Comma Delimited (.CSV) file in Microsoft Excel will drop leading zeros at the beginning of any given column. If this happens, re-open the file and do the following:

1. Select the column header (A,B,C,...), for the column that has the leading zeros, to highlight the entire column

2. Right-Click on the column header

3. Select 'Format Cells '

4. Select the ' Number tab'

5. In the 'Category' list, click 'Custom'

6. In the 'Type' box, replace the word 'General' with the number format, such 00 for a two-digit code, or 0000000 for a seven-digit code.

This will reset the leading zeros (that Excel initially stripped off) when the file is saved again as a .CSV type.

Warning: Do not re-open the file or the zeros will get removed again.

Video - How to Work with Leading Zeros