As you've discovered, number formatting is for *display purposes only*. The
true underlying value of the cell may not be what is *displayed*.

So, you'd need to either preformat the cells as TEXT or precede the entry
with an apostrophe like this: '02. The apostrophe will not be displayed in
the cell.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Evil with a K" wrote in message
...
I asked earlier how to make a column display a two digit number instead of
a
single digit number (under 10) by adding a zero in front. The answer was
to
hit custom and type in two zeros. The problem is the spreadsheet does
display
the 02 on the cell but if you click the cell it still reads ony the 2.
This
doesn't allow me to enter into access without errors. I have tried copy
paste
special but still does not resolve the issue. Any help would be
appreciated.
Bottom line I need to be able to place a 0 in front of all single digit
numbers in a column.

Thanks.