Create a Column in Excel with Leading 0s

To create a column in Excel with leading 0s given a column A with values 0,1,..., and 12 character string to create, use this formula on the target column:

= RIGHT("000000000000" & A1,12)

The result will be 000000000000,000000000001,...
Then just use the copy, paste special as values technique mentioned earlier.

Reference: http://www.koozie.org/2004/11/excel_leading_z.html

Concatenate two Excel Columns with a Character or String

To concatenate (or join) two columns A2 and B2 into C2 with a hypen (in this case), use this formula in C2:

=A2&"-"&B2

Then copy the results down the column with click and drag downwards to duplicate the formula on the cell. Finally, copy column C and paste special into the target column as values only.

Reference: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,33100,00.asp