If the values all look like numbers, you could change your =vlookup() formula to
look like:

=vlookup(--a2,sheet2!a:b,2,false)

The -- stuff will coerce the text number to a real number.

-"00047" becomes -47
--"00047" becomes the opposite of -47 or +47 (= 47).



MAC253 wrote:

I have a report that is imported from another source. A column has numbers
showing as 00047, formatted as "general". I need to use those numbers in a
vlookup formula - and the lookup table has the numbers without the leading
zeros. So right now, nothing is pulling. Is there a way to get rid of those
leading zeros - either by formatting or with a formula - so I can avoid
re-entering them all by hand (there are about 1500 of them). I use Excel 2000

--

Dave Peterson