If you want a fixed number of digits:

Format/Cells/Number/Custom 00000

will display 5 places, with the first digit 0 for numbers <=9999.

If you want to always display 0, regardless of the length of the number,
one way::


Format/Cells/Number/Custom \0General

or replace "General" with some other format.

In article ,
"oregonpapertrail" wrote:

how can i make zero appear and print as the value of the first digit in an
excel column?