OpenOffice: Show zeros - how it works
In the "OpenOffice Calc" prefixed zeros are usually shown, but sometimes they cannot be displayed. In this practical tip, you can read what you can do in this case.
Show zeros in OpenOffice: Basic setting
These instructions refer to OpenOffice for MacOS X. With the Windows version of OpenOffice, the menu navigation may differ.
- Open the "Settings" -> "OpenOffice Calc" -> "View" and check whether the checkbox "Zero values" is activated (see picture).
- In the Windows version, first open the table document and go to "Settings" via "Tools". Then select "OpenOffice Calc" and "View" and check the checkbox next to "Zero values"
- If there is no checkmark next to "Zero values", click on the corresponding checkbox and then on "OK".
Show zero values even with number formatting
If you also want to perform calculations with the numerical values, the fields must be formatted as numbers.
- Right-click in the cell in question and select the "Format cells" option. If you want to format several cells, mark them beforehand.
- Under Category, click the Number option.
- Under "Options" next to "Leading zeros" specify the desired number of zeros that should appear before the numerical value.
- Confirm the change with the "OK" button.
- When entering, the leading zeros are automatically inserted taking into account the entered numerical value.
- An example: If you enter the number 4 as the desired number of zeros, you get for the value 2 => 0002 and for the value 234 => 0234.
Read here how you can insert line breaks in "OpenOffice Calc".