Preserve leading zero in csv file using javascript

Question

I am downloading a csv using the following code.

<a download="somedata.csv"  id='x'>Download CSV</a>
<script>
       var csv = '01'; //prints 1 in the cell, truncating leading zero
       var csv = "'"+01+"'"; //prints '01' in the cell, with single quote
       var csv = '"\""01"\""'; //prints "01" in the cell, with double quotes
       var a = document.getElementById('x');
       a.href='data:text/csv;base64,' + btoa(csv);
</script>

I need to print the numbers with leading zeroes in the csv file. The solution I have found so far is to make the number a text by wrapping it either with single or double quotes. But this does not solve the problem as it prints the quotes also in the cell.

Isn't there a way to preserve the leading zeroes and print the numbers without quotes in the cell? Any suggestions?

EDIT: I forgot to mention in the original post that I MUST need to open the csv in Excel.

var csv = "'01";   //prints '01 in the cell
var csv = '="01"'; //prints  01 in the cell, but the value is ="01"

Isn't there a way to get the cell value and display both as 01 (instead of different display and value)?

Answer 1

I know it is an old question, but I recently came across this issue and fixed it by adding Zero-Width-Space character at the end like this :

var csv = '01' + String.fromCharCode(8203);

I hope it will help others who come across this issue.