620 Admit Cards, a Messy Spreadsheet and a 9 p.m. Deadline

Why the zeros vanished. Excel's default General format treats '007' as a number. Numbers have no leading zeros, so 7 is what is stored; the zero was discarded at the moment of entry, not later.

Correct order of repair

1. Insert a new column next to Roll No. and format it as Text (Format Cells → Text) before typing anything into it.
2. Re-enter or re-import the roll numbers into that text column, so the stored value itself is 007. Alternatively type an apostrophe before the digits ('007), which forces text entry.
3. Verify three or four known cases, then repoint the mail-merge field to the new column and regenerate.

What will not work

• Selecting the existing Roll No. column and setting it to Text. The zeros are already gone; the format change only affects future entries.
• A custom display format of 000. It looks right on screen, but it assumes every roll number has exactly three digits; the first four-digit roll number will display wrongly, and a merge can pick up the underlying value rather than the formatted display. Stored text removes the doubt.
• Using a formula such as '00' & A2 blindly: it double-prefixes any row that already holds three digits.

Because the school's rule forbids silent edits, the re-entered column should be shown to the class teacher before the merge is run.

Sorting. Sorting all columns together is safe: whole records move, so no student's name is detached from his roll number, and a mail merge reads by column, not by row order. The real risks are two: sorting a single column while the rest stay put, which scrambles the pairing permanently, and two people editing the same file at once, which produces a mix of old and new data. Action: ask the colleague to work on a copy, keep one master file with editing restricted, and sort only by selecting the entire data range.

Duplicates. Do not use Remove Duplicates as the first step. It keeps the first occurrence, deletes the rest permanently, gives no report of what was removed, and cannot tell a genuine repeat entry from two students who happen to share a name. Since roll numbers must be unique, the correct move is:

1. Add a helper column with =COUNTIF($A$2:$A$621,A2)>1 to flag every repeated roll number.
2. Filter the flagged rows and print them.
3. Send that short list to the two class teachers for verification, as the school rule requires.

Only after verification should one row per student be deleted, with the deletion noted in the register.

What to send. A PDF generated from the merged document, not the .docx and never the live .xlsx. A PDF embeds the fonts, so the vendor's inability to install fonts stops mattering; it locks the layout so that 620 cards cannot reflow on the vendor's machine; and it severs the link to the data source, so a change in the sheet cannot silently alter a printed card.

Before sending

• Print one batch (say Class VI) and check three cards against the class list: name spelling, roll number with its leading zero, centre.
• Confirm the count in the PDF is 620, not 619.

Naming and retention

• Vendor file: AdmitCard_2025_ClassesVI-XII_v3_2025-03-11.pdf - exam, year, version, date.
• Master files: keep the .docx and the corrected .xlsx unchanged in an office folder, with date-stamped copies; 'admit final final' is the actual defect, so replace it with numbered versions and a one-line log recording who changed what.
• Send from the school's official mail ID, and password-protect the PDF or use the school's shared drive, because it carries children's names and fathers' names.

Rule to respect - the PDF is a copy for printing; the master sheet remains the record, and no correction after 9 p.m. is made without the class teacher's verification.