Change cell properties to Text<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Suppose you have an empty Excel sheet and you want to make a list of telephone numbers in it. You can do this as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Select the cells in which you want to type the phone numbers;<\/li>
- Go to tab Start <\/em>-> Group Number <\/em>and select Text <\/em>as number format.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bjorn-meijer.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/standaard-1.jpg\")
number format Default<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bjorn-meijer.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/tekst.jpg\")
number format Text<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n As soon as you type a 0 for a number, Excel will show a green triangle in the upper left corner of the relevant cell. This implies that there is something wrong with the cell contents. To remove the triangle, select the cell(s) and then click the exclamation mark. Click in the menu on Ignore error<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Ignore](\"https:\/\/www.bjorn-meijer.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/fout-negeren.jpg\")
Ignore error in cell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Adjust cell properties to Custom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A second way to use leading zeros in Excel is to change the cell properties to Amended<\/em>. This is useful for a list of numbers that must have the same number of characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Select the cells which should contain leading zeros;<\/li>
- Right-click on the selection and choose Cell properties <\/em>from the context menu<\/a> (or use the shortcut Ctrl+1);<\/li>
- Choose in the tab Number <\/em>for the Category <\/em>Amended<\/strong>;<\/li>
- Enter a format code of four zeros. The number of zeros indicates the number of characters in the cell;<\/li>
- Click OK to save the changes.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Leading](\"https:\/\/www.bjorn-meijer.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/celopmaak-aangepast.jpg\")
Adjust cell properties to Custom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n
\n \n <\/td>\n \n a <\/td>\n \n B <\/td>\n \n C <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 1 <\/td>\n \n Custom cell formatting <\/td>\n \n Input <\/td>\n \n Display <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 2 <\/td>\n \n 0000 <\/td>\n \n 123 <\/td>\n \n 00123 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 3 <\/td>\n \n 000# <\/td>\n \n 123 <\/td>\n \n 0123 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 4 <\/td>\n \n 00-00 <\/td>\n \n 1 <\/td>\n \n 00-01 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 5 <\/td>\n \n 00-# <\/td>\n \n 1 <\/td>\n \n 00-1 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 6 <\/td>\n \n 000-0000 <\/td>\n \n 123456 <\/td>\n \n 012-3456 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n \n \n 7 <\/td>\n \n ###-#### <\/td>\n \n 123456 <\/td>\n \n 12-3456 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/table>\n<\/div> - Choose in the tab Number <\/em>for the Category <\/em>Amended<\/strong>;<\/li>