Microsoft interview questions for freshers
The cleanest of the product loops for a fresher: no aptitude paper, no verbal reasoning, no essay. It is coding from the first minute — two problems in the online assessment, then technical rounds that go deeper into design and CS fundamentals as you progress.
First gate: Online Assessment — Codility or HackerRank · usually 2 coding problems. Clear this and the rest of the process is interviews.
The Microsoft hiring process, round by round
What each stage tests, in the order you will face it. University / new-grad SDE hiring & internships.
- 1
Online Assessment
Codility or HackerRank · usually 2 coding problemsTwo coding problems against hidden tests, occasionally with CS fundamentals MCQs alongside. There is no aptitude or verbal filler — the whole screen is code.
- 2
Technical round 1
45–60 minCore DSA on a shared editor. Talk while you solve: Microsoft interviewers score approach and communication, not only the final answer.
- 3
Technical round 2
45–60 minHarder DSA plus CS fundamentals — OS, memory, concurrency — and a design discussion scaled to a fresher.
- 4
Final round (hiring manager)
45–60 minA last technical problem plus behavioural questions on collaboration and how you handle being wrong. This round decides team fit.
- 5
HR round
30–45 min · usually virtualMotivation for Microsoft, career direction, project experience and standard behavioural questions.
Which role you land
The same process routes into different tracks at Microsoft. What separates them is usually one section of the test.
Summer internship that converts to a new-grad offer.
Direct entry role from campus and the careers portal.
Topics to prepare
What Microsoft actually asks about across its rounds.
Sample Microsoft interview questions
Grouped by the round they come from. Read them once, then answer them out loud — the second pass is the one that helps.
- 01Reverse a linked list in groups of k.
- 02Find the lowest common ancestor of two nodes in a binary tree.
- 03Given a matrix of 0s and 1s, find the largest square of 1s.
- 04Serialize and deserialize a binary tree.
- 05Return all root-to-leaf paths that sum to a target.
- 01What happens in memory when you allocate an object — stack or heap, and why does it matter?
- 02Explain virtual memory and paging.
- 03What is a race condition? Show one and then fix it.
- 04How would you test the function you just wrote? Name the edge cases first.
- 01Design a data structure supporting insert, delete and getRandom in O(1).
- 02Design an LRU cache and explain your choice of structures.
- 03Design a file system API at class level (junior-level scope).
- 01Tell me about a project where you had to learn a technology from scratch.
- 02Describe a time you received hard technical feedback in a code review.
- 03How do you decide when a solution is good enough to ship?
- 04Why Microsoft, and which product would you want to work on?
These are questions in the pattern Microsoft is reported to ask, compiled from public interview experiences — not a leaked question paper. The pattern is what transfers; the exact wording changes every cycle.
Where this came from
Last verified September 2026Compiled from Microsoft’s published hiring programme and current public interview reports. Eligibility bars and test patterns change between drives — always confirm the cutoff on the official Microsoft careers page or your placement cell before you plan around it.
Microsoft interview FAQs
What is the Microsoft interview process for freshers?
Microsoft hires through University / new-grad SDE hiring & internships. There are 5 stages: Online Assessment, Technical round 1, Technical round 2, Final round (hiring manager), HR round. Two coding problems against hidden tests, occasionally with CS fundamentals MCQs alongside. There is no aptitude or verbal filler — the whole screen is code.
What is the eligibility criteria for Microsoft?
BE/BTech/ME/MTech/MCA, final year or recent graduate · no published percentage bar in the standard path — screening is on coding depth, projects and internships. Roles are posted on the Microsoft careers portal under Entry Level / University.
Which topics should I prepare for a Microsoft interview?
Arrays & Strings, Linked Lists, Trees & Graphs, Recursion & Backtracking, Dynamic Programming, Operating Systems, Object-Oriented Design, Complexity Analysis. Weight them toward whichever round you keep failing in a mock.
How many rounds does Microsoft take?
5 — 1) Online Assessment: Two coding problems against hidden tests, occasionally with CS fundamentals MCQs alongside. There is no aptitude or verbal filler — the whole screen is code. 2) Technical round 1: Core DSA on a shared editor. Talk while you solve: Microsoft interviewers score approach and communication, not only the final answer. 3) Technical round 2: Harder DSA plus CS fundamentals — OS, memory, concurrency — and a design discussion scaled to a fresher. 4) Final round (hiring manager): A last technical problem plus behavioural questions on collaboration and how you handle being wrong. This round decides team fit. 5) HR round: Motivation for Microsoft, career direction, project experience and standard behavioural questions.
Which roles does Microsoft offer freshers?
SWE Intern — Summer internship that converts to a new-grad offer. Software Engineer (new grad) — Direct entry role from campus and the careers portal.
Is Microsoft a service or a product company?
Microsoft is a product company. The cleanest of the product loops for a fresher: no aptitude paper, no verbal reasoning, no essay. It is coding from the first minute — two problems in the online assessment, then technical rounds that go deeper into design and CS fundamentals as you progress.
Preparing for more than one
Product companies first — that prep transfers almost entirely between them.
Answer these Microsoft questions out loud
Reading a question bank is not preparation. Say your answers in a free AI mock interview and get instant feedback on structure, clarity and confidence.