获取单元格以在Excel中显示为字符串

Question

I have a cell which shows the following:

00002

This is a string identifier and not a number.

However, when I click on the cell, it treats it as a number. It says "2" in the text input at the top (next to the formula).

How would I convert this to be a string? If I do cell formatting as Text, it strips all the leading zeros and incorrectly turns it into "2". Right now it is formatted as a zip code.

How do I make it a string, such that I can grab the value "00002" using xlrd?

Answer 1

Under Format Cells option in the Number tab. Change the category to 'Text'.

Answer 2

Is the cell set to a custom format of 00000 ? If so, you can convert it by using a formula:

=TEXT(A1,"00000")

Then copy -> paste-special -> values