KB233: Leading Zero Dropped in Word/Excel Mail Merge

   Related documents:  Set a Cell Format as Text in Excel; About Mail Merge for Form Letters and Mass Mailings

If the postal code starts with a 0 (for example "01234"), Word interprets it as "1234". To work around this behavior, format the postal code fields as text (rather than as numbers) in Microsoft Excel. Then postal codes that start with zero will be available in Word.
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem.

Method 1: Prior to entering the data:

1. Select the column that contains the postal code.
2. On the Format menu, click Cells.
3. On the Number tab, under Category, select Text and then click OK.
    

Method 2: While entering the data:
   

1. Add an Apostrophe Before the Postal Code
       Add an apostrophe as the first character of the postal code, as in the following example:
   
           '98052-6399

Author/Source: Ellen Ricca
Date Reviewed: 2/13/2004