Correct format for strings / numbers beginning with zero?

Question

I\'m trying to use PHP to create a file containing a list of phone numbers. It\'s working OK however if the phone number begins with zero, the digit is dropped from the Exce

Answer 1

This is an old question but I was recently struggling with this issue and I thought it may help someone in the future if I post some additional info here:

Whilst the above answers are correct, the formatting gets lost when you remove a column or row that is located before the formatted cell.

The solution that seems to be resistand to that is:

$cellRichText = new \PHPExcel_RichText($worksheet->getCell($cell));                        
$cellRichText->createText($cellValue);