[1124] Force Pandas to keep the values as they appear

When reading an Excel file, Pandas may automatically convert text-based numeric values into numbers. For instance, the string '0008000300' will be interpreted as the number 8000300, causing the leading zeros to be removed.

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Pandas automatically interprets numeric-like strings as numbers when reading Excel files, causing leading zeros to be dropped. To preserve the text formatting, you should ensure Pandas treats the column as a string when reading the file. Here’s how you can do it:

import pandas as pd

# Read the Excel file and specify dtype for that column
df = pd.read_excel("your_file.xlsx", dtype={"your_column": str})

# Alternatively, convert it afterward
df["your_column"] = df["your_column"].astype(str)

print(df)

This forces Pandas to keep the values exactly as they appear, including leading zeros. Another option is setting the column format to “Text” in Excel before exporting it. Let me know if you need any refinements!