Add or remove leading zeros in Excel

Easily keep leading zeros in your cells or eliminate them

Trying to force Excel to keep the leading zeros you enter? The Add/Remove Leading Zeros tool is a perfect solution. It effectively processes numeric values and text strings. Just right for working with phone numbers, postal codes, SSNs, and the like.

Free download

For Microsoft Excel 365, 2024 – 2016

Show leading zeros in your cells with a mouse click

Adding leading zeros to Excel data is nice and easy now. Just a couple of seconds, and you're done.

Add leading zeros to phone numbers, postal codes, etc.

Quickly modify phone numbers, postal codes, and SSNs by entering leading zeros.

Effectively deal with both numbers and text

Only process numeric values and text strings separately—that's how the tool works.

Easily make unwanted leading zeros vanish

Eliminate leading zeros without a hitch if you don't need them anymore.

How to add and remove leading zeros in Excel

Adding the missing leading zero
Adding the missing leading zero
The leading zero is added
The leading zero is added
Erasing all the leading zeros
Erasing all the leading zeros
The leading zeros are erased
The leading zeros are erased

Frequently asked questions

What is Add/Remove Leading Zeros helpful for?

Using the tool as part of Ultimate Suite for Excel, you can easily add leading zeros to the content of your cells. You can also trim leading zeros, if necessary.

Excel doesn't keep the leading zeros I type in, which is frustrating. Can your tool help?

Sure. Simply start Add/Remove Leading Zeros, select your range, and decide how long the character sets in your cells should be. After you click the Apply button, leading zeros will appear in place of the missing characters.

How can I get rid of leading zeros in Excel cells?

Just run the tool, select the range to be processed, and specify the desired length of your character sets. Then click the Apply button, and all unwanted leading zeros will disappear.

How many leading zeros can I add?

As many as you like, we would say, but Excel standard limitations should never be ignored, of course :)

What if the text strings in my cells are of different lengths?

The tool automatically finds the longest string in your range, so you're just a mouse-click away from making all your strings equally long with the leading zeros added.

Over 150,000 happy users!

What our customers think

Five stars.

Ablebits: 5* for quality, 5* for function, 5* for support

Ablebits is one of the best timesavers in my toolbox. I fully believe that I gain >50% efficiency time wise and experience a dramatic increase in accuracy.
I just received wonderful and timely tech support from the support team. Fast response. Accurate. To the point.
5* for quality, 5* for function, 5* for support. Thank you Ablebits team!

DavyCinco,

I can’t tell you how much I use and appreciate Ablebits

I can’t tell you how much I use and appreciate Ablebits. The Merge Tables function is worth it alone, but I’m still discovering new fun things this add-in can do. It’s hands down the best program I’ve used to enhance data analysis and curation.

Christina Cenczyk,

Since I found Ultimate Suite, I have been able to actually enjoy my data days

I am the lucky person in our office to manipulate data in Excel. I used to dread it and take days to complete. Since I found Ablebits Ultimate Suite for Excel, I can be the office star and have been able to actually enjoy my data days. This product saves me frustration and time. Excellent support, great documentation and it is easy to work through. Highly recommended!

Kelly Rickard,

I have used AbleBits for over 10 years and love the product

I have used AbleBits for over 10 years and love the product. As an advanced user of Excel, I still benefit from skipping formulas and going for the easy AbleBits click. There are many AbleBits functions that I use that have no formula as well. AbleBits is a particularly good tool if your task is to merge many different historic datasets from different users, that have been arranged using different logics (perhaps with sloppy data entry), and making one clean dataset. AbleBits makes such a task fun!

Brian A. Boecherer, Ph.D.,

My experience with Ablebits has been nothing short of outstanding

Overall, my experience with Ablebits has been nothing short of outstanding. Not only does their software deliver on its promises, but their commitment to customer satisfaction truly sets them apart. I highly recommend Ablebits to anyone in need of reliable and feature-rich software, backed by unparalleled support.

Vijayakrishna Rapaka E,

There are so many times that you will find yourself needing this…

It is a bit pricy for a home user, but it is more than worth it when you see how much time and energy you save with all the tools. I deal with databases and .csv files regularly and being able to transform and clean up the data for importing into other programs makes the work so much easier. I would spend hours doing manually through plain Excel what takes me moments.
On top of all of this, there is one thing that sets this program apart from any other I have ever used. The customer service. They are spot-on. If I EVER have a problem, I just contact support with an email, and usually within 24 hours I get a reply from a human whom you can reply back. Ablebits for Excel is always updating and adding new features. There are so many times that you will find yourself needing this, even if you are just using Excell casually, you need this program.

Robin Ellwood,

These should all come standard with Excel

It boggles my mind that it took a third party to add these tools to Excel. Used Ablebits throughout its trial whenever i was hitting pain points in Excel, and it invariably made life easier and streamlined my work. I can genuinely say it's saving me at least 3 to 4 hours a week.
All in all, if you work in Excel daily like me and there's no hope of your business moving away from it, Ablebits will make your life infinitely easier and it's definitely worth the money.

Alex Lugan,

I've been with Ablebits since 2018

I've been with Ablebits since 4/2018. Numerous updates and new installs. No complainants at all. They are very responsive and always very professional. The software is the best Excel add-in that I've tried. If you try their Software, and need help, email them and they'll respond to help. If you've tried other Excel add-ins and felt letdown, give Ablebits a try! You'll love the software and technical support if you need it.

Marv Wilson,

Excellent customer service!

I took advantage of the trial period for the full program, and I put Ablebits through everything I wanted to achieve. Wow! It worked so beautifully. When I was ready to purchase, I ran into an obstacle. It was a Saturday morning (in my country). I wrote to their customer service and within a few hours I had excellent communication as to how to resolve my issue. Reinstalled with no problems. I am so happy with my decision.

Vette Yates,

I love Ablebits because it turns a 5-hour project into 5 minutes

I love Ablebits because with the easy download (takes less than 1 minute), I have access to so many tools in Excel. I work in sales, so being able to compare tables and find duplicates is a lifesaver. I would recommend this to anyone who works with lists.

Amy Harris,

Quick response to my issue

I am a noob when it comes to using Excel. However, I started a part-time job this month with a company that uses it exclusively for their reports and general communications, so I have undertaken a crash course in learning this program. I came across the Ablebits app and gave it a test run. THANK GOODNESS I DID! I know there are many more things I am to learn but this app has given me the confidence that I will be able to keep up with the rest of the team. Not an easy task for a 68-year-old man trying to stay relevant with this younger generation.

Michael Brown,

Well worth every dollar

I've used several add-ins over my many decades of using Excel. I must say that Ablebits has given me the biggest bank for my bucks. The ability to easily parse data from other sources is worth the price of admission alone. Well worth every dollar.

John Graham,

I Love Ablebits

I Love Ablebits, and have used this add on tool since 2020. Working at a global company that has several data bases, compiling data from these different data bases would have driven me absolutely CRAZY, if I didn't have Ablebits! When I show coworkers how I can have reports done so fast, I show them the tools and how they work. Without fail, their response is: "That's it ?!"

Linda Gi,

Ablebits is a major time saver

Ablebits is a major time saver when doing advanced work in Excel. Merge Wizard makes merging tables a breeze. They also provide Excellent and quick customer service. I make sure that everyone on my team has able bits.

Erin Cole,

The best Excel extension package!

I found out about Ablebits about a year ago when I looked for efficient ways to combine data from different Excel sheets. After using the free trial version for a couple of weeks I realized that these useful extensions were exactly what I've been looking for, and more so! So I bought the full version, and now I really can't imagine how I could manage without it before. It just saves me so many hours of work each day, and I couldn't be more satisfied! Plus the support is great, with very short response time. Keep up the good work!

Markus Pålsson,

I prefer the simplistic and efficient way Ablebits handles tasks

I have been using this product for years and it does exactly what I need it to do to enhance my overall Excel experience. Other people may have coding expertise and methods to make Excel do whatever they need, but I prefer the simplistic and efficient way Ablebits handles tasks, and it helps me get the job done quickly and effectively. I feel it pays for itself after one use.

Troy Cockrell,

It has already paid for itself in less than 48 hours

I have used Ultimate Suite for Excel for just 48 hours now. It way exceeds the expectations I had for the product. It has already paid for itself in less than 48 hours in terms of time saved.
The support team is amazing. As a newbie, I had an issue and the support team got back to me with a solution in under 6 hours, with clear instructions on how to track similar errors should I encounter them in the future. I really recommend this product to all. It is worth every cent.

Andrew Biebuyck,

Still loving it after all these years...

I've been using Ablebits for years and have always found it insanely useful for all those more complicated things you need to do in XL. Their interfaces are very user friendly (way better than MS), and the functionality greatly extends what you can do with XL. The icing on the cake is that the customer service is top notch. Not only are they super responsive, but they continue to communicate with you until your issue is resolved. Many thanks Ablebits!

Chris,

Above and beyond

Bought the Ultimate Suite several years ago and found it absolutely indispensable for analyzing production data on information security control assessments as well as concepting a quantitative risk analysis approach based on this assessment data. Had to reinstall the suite on a new computer recently and had to give it another go because I didn't have a license for the latest version. Filled out the survey on why I uninstalled it (before installing the previous version) and customer service reached out with a free upgrade. Wow! Who does that? Great company, great tools, great customer service!

Bryan Cline,

Perfect software

It has been my experience that it is remarkably rare that software surprises the user by simply doing, beautifully and simply, precisely what you hope it will. The Ablebits Ultimate Suite add-in for Excel is such a software. It has become an indispensable part of how I manage large Excel data files.

Jody Chafee,
Read more reviews on Trustpilot

System requirements

Microsoft Excel IconMicrosoft Excel
  • Excel included in Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)
  • Excel 2024
  • Excel 2021
  • Excel 2019
  • Excel 2016
  • Note! Office Insider is not supported
Windows IconWindows
  • Windows 11 on PCs and Copilot+ PCs
  • Windows 10
  • Note! Windows Insider is not supported

Choose your Ultimate Suite edition

Add/Remove Leading Zeros + 70 other time-saving tools in one powerful suite

  Personal Business Business, 5 seats
License for Single user Single user 5 users
Unconditional 60-day money back guarantee

If you are not 100% happy with the product, you can cancel an order and get your money back with no questions asked.

Instant delivery by e-mail

After purchase, you will receive an email with your license information within 5 minutes.

One-time purchase

You pay only once and can use the purchased version as long as you need.

Volume discounts
  • 2 – 10 licenses: 5%
  • 11 – 25: 10%
  • 26 – 50: 15%
  • Over 50: please contact us for details
Support for Excel 365, 2021 – 2016

All Excel versions 2021 – 2016 are supported, both 32- and 64-bit. Also, all desktop Excel versions included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

Technical support service

Our support team is always happy to help you via email, live chat, or phone no matter how long ago you purchased your license.

Free upgrades

During 2 years after the purchase you get all minor updates and major upgrades for free.

2 years 2 years 2 years
Corporate deployment (GPO, SCCM)

Your system administrator can quickly and easily deploy Ultimate Suite for a group of users without even disturbing them.

Features and hotfixes on request

We’ll do everything in our power to create additional features you need and fix the found bugs as soon as possible.

Special offer
Enjoy Ultimate Suite
with up to 30% discount
Offer ends December, 11th
$69
$99
Buy now
$11995
$14995
Buy now
$297
$37500
Buy now

Your order will be processed by 2Checkout (Verifone Payments BV)

We use the e-commerce service provider 2Checkout (Verifone Payments BV) to process your order and collect payment.
Get a formal quote Place a Purchase Order (PO) Purchasing FAQ

50% discount for charities and educational organizations

For charities, public schools, colleges, and universities, as well as for private educational institutions working on a not-for-profit basis, we offer a 50% discount from the regular price. To get your discount, please contact us using your organization's email address.