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Asked: 2026-06-13T06:16:41+00:00

I’ve got a .xls file with a column of zip codes. Since they are

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I’ve got a .xls file with a column of zip codes.

Since they are all 5 digit numbers, Open Office Calc is treating them as numbers. I want it to treat them as text.

I know I can do it by prepending an apostrophe to all the numeric fields. But I’ve got a couple dozen spreadsheets with a couple thousand zip codes.

I’ve tried selecting the column and doing Format – Cells – picking the Number tab and selecting Text. But that doesn’t work and the Format Code is @ instead of ‘

Is there a way to select a column of numeric data and automatically add a ‘ to the beginning of each field?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    You could do it using VBA in a macro, which would be straightforward. Alternatively you can make a formula using BAHTTEXT (under text) which converts numbers to text. If that doesn’t work you can use CONCATENATE and have a column of all apostrophes, and just join those two columns. Then just drag down the formula and you will have a new column of text.

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