How do I turn off "print zero values" in a spreadsheet Template (.xlt) permanently.

[DaveAlex1]

I know how to use ‘format page’ and turn it off for each individual file created by the template but I am trying to have the template do this automatically. Thanks

[mikekaganski]

This is one of the differences between the office suites: in Excel (and its formats), you don’t have a concept of page styles, and only have two levels of suppressing zeros:

1. Disable displaying zeros on spreadsheet level (Show a zero in cells that have zero value check box) - this disables both viewing and printing them;
2. Create a special number format or conditional formatting rule that doesn’t display zero values, and use it per cell.

On the other hand, LibreOffice (and ODF) have these:

1. Disable displaying zeros on application level (this only disables on-screen display, and still prints them);
2. Disable printing zeros per page style (which you mentioned);
3. Using number format codes/conditional formatting.

There is no 1:1 mapping between Calc’s flexible per-page-style setting and something in Excel. You may have several page styles applied to different sheets in Calc, and they could have different zero-printing setting for each, which is not available in XLSX/XLS and their template formats.

So the conclusion is: to use that setting in your templates is another reason to use ODF (.ots).