why does excel drop leading zeros code example

Example 1: excel vba hide zero values

' Excel
CTRL+1 > Format Cells > Number > Custom > 0;-0;;@
' VBA
ActiveWindow.DisplayZeros = False

Example 2: excel remove leading zeros

This is a formatting problem.
1. Select the cell/s with the leading zeros
2. In the Home tab find the number region
3. In the dropdown menu, select general.
Congratulations, this should do the trick.

If not, experiment with different formats and if you still
have a problem, try pressing F2 while selecting one of the
cells to examine what is really in that cell.