Better than a custom number format, and also better than a laeding
apostrophe, is to format the cells as Text.

After selecting the cells you want treated this way, use the menu to choose
Format | Cells | Number & from the left hand panel (Category) choose Text &
click on OK.

Once you've done that, you can freely enter leading zeros without the need
to use an initial apostrophe



"spoggy" wrote:

doing worksheet for ordering zeros at beginning of numbers disappear. How do
I format to keep zero in group of numbers ie 04581