The difference is that the content of A1 is the text string 0607, whereas
the content of A2 is the number 607.
You can confirm this by seeing that =ISTEXT(A1) and =ISNUMBER(A2) will show
TRUE, whereas =ISTEXT(A2) and =ISNUMBER(A1) will show FALSE.

Formatting the cell will affect only cells containing a number, & will not
affect text. If you want to display the leading zero for the number 607,
custom format as 0000
--
David Biddulph

"William" wrote in message
...
In a worksheet cell A1 is in General format, and has the entry 0607. Cell
A2
(same column) is also in General format, but has 607. When I add the 0 at
the front 607, Excel deletes the zero as soon as I click outside the cell.
I
don't understand how that can happen since both cells are in General
format.
What is causing one cell to accept the 0 at the front but not the other?
--
William