Stop Excel Removing the Zero From Postal Codes
Spreadsheets turn 0157 into 157 and break mailing lists, courier uploads and CRM imports. How to keep postal codes intact in Excel and Google Sheets.
South African postal codes always have four digits. Codes in Pretoria, Centurion, Limpopo and parts of North West start with a zero: 0002, 0157, 0699. Spreadsheets treat them as numbers and drop the zero, which breaks courier uploads, mailing labels and online forms.
In Excel
- Select the postal code column.
- Right-click, choose Format Cells, then Text, before typing or pasting codes.
- For codes already damaged, use a helper column with
=TEXT(A2,"0000"), then copy it and paste as values. - When importing a CSV, use Data, From Text/CSV and set the postal code column to Text instead of opening the file directly.
In Google Sheets
- Select the column, then Format, Number, Plain text.
- To fix existing values, use
=TEXT(A2,"0000")in a helper column.
Check your list
- Every code should have exactly four digits.
- Street addresses should use street codes, PO Boxes should use PO Box codes.
- Spot-check a few rows against the listing, especially suburbs with common names.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my courier upload reject 157?
Because 157 is not a valid South African postal code. It should be 0157 (Centurion). Format the column as text and add the zero back.
Which provinces have codes starting with 0?
Codes 0001 to 0299 are in the Pretoria area of Gauteng, 0300 to 0499 mainly in North West, and 0500 to 0999 in Limpopo. See postal code ranges by province.