Formatting SSNs

[Guest]

I'm having difficulty with a spreadsheet and socials - I need to format them
so the leading zeros remain and the hyphens go away. I was given a concate
formula but in order to make that work I have to put it into the spreadsheet
and I can't use the column where it goes. The parameters are assigned for
uploading a flat file into our system. Can someone help me with low level
directions. I'm literate but not that literate.
Cheri

 

[Guest]

If the SSNs are text fields:
'001-23-4567
then just do Edit > Find and enter -
In the Replace field enter nothing

You should see:
'001234567

 

[Guest]

I've tried that but when I copy and paste from the original spreadsheet into
my template, it reverts back to SSN format. The concat formula works great
but I can't have it in my spreadsheet. I've tried the find/replace but it
drops the zeros.

 

[Guest]

After you replace the dashes with nothing, format the cells as Custom:
000000000

Select the cells
Format | Cells | Number
Click Custom and type 000000000 in the space provided.

 

[Guest]

Thank you - that works and your answer was easy to understand. Muchas Grass!

 

[japhydog15]

THANKS! I had read in the Excel Bible something like this but was unable to
make it work until your post!