Prevent exported text column from removing leading zeros

[Kirt1965]

Hello all,

We have text columns containing employee IDs.  Frequently those begin with leading zeros.  The leading zeros are removed upon exporting to Excel csv file.  Is there any way to force retaining the leading zeros?

Thank you,

Kirt

[Pragati11]

Hi @Kirt1965 ,

There is an existing thread on this:

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/How-to-Stop-Power-BI-from-Removing-Leading-Zeros/m-p/101609...

Thanks,

Pragati

[Kirt1965]

I read that thread before posting.  It was unrelated to the issue I was seeing.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

This behavior was noticed in the desktop export only.  Once you publish to Power BI Service the data types should be respected and the export will function as expected.  Alternative is to use paginated reports which will provide unlimited rows export as well as a subscription option to deliver the report attached to an email.

HTH,

Smitty

[Kirt1965]

Thank you, Smitty.  This was indeed the problem.  Appreciate it.