Microsoft Interview Questions and Guide

Practical coding, clear communication, and design questions grounded in the team's product area.

The Microsoft interview loop

1. Recruiter screen
2. Technical screen
3. Loop: 4 rounds of coding and design with an "as appropriate" final interviewer

Microsoft interview questions

• Design a URL Shortener
• Design WhatsApp
• Design a News Feed
• Design a Web Crawler
• Design Dropbox
• Design Google Docs
• Design a Distributed Cache
• Design Search Autocomplete
• Design a Chat LLM Serving Platform
• Design Slack
• Design Google Calendar
• Design LeetCode
• Design Zoom (Video Conferencing)
• Design Figma (Multiplayer Editing)
• Design GitHub
• Design Gmail
• Design Google News
• Design a Distributed File System
• Design a Crossword Puzzle Solver
• Design a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Design Pastebin
• Design ChatGPT Playground
• Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters
• 3Sum
• Maximum Subarray (Kadane's Algorithm)
• Sort Colors (Dutch National Flag)
• Find the Duplicate Number
• Find All Anagrams in a String
• Longest Palindromic Substring
• Find the First Occurrence (KMP)
• Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock
• Valid Palindrome
• Valid Palindrome II
• Merge Sorted Array
• Move Zeroes
• Longest Common Prefix
• Rotate Image
• Spiral Matrix
• Next Permutation
• Set Matrix Zeroes
• Longest Repeating Character Replacement
• Max Consecutive Ones III
• Minimum Size Subarray Sum
• First Missing Positive
• Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array
• Rotate Array
• Two Sum II - Input Array Is Sorted
• Zigzag Conversion
• 4Sum
• 3Sum Closest
• Permutation in String
• String Compression
• Reverse Words in a String
• Game of Life
• Majority Element II
• Remove Element
• Merge Strings Alternately
• Maximum Average Subarray I
• Reverse Vowels of a String
• Maximum Product of Three Numbers
• Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array II
• Diagonal Traverse
• Spiral Matrix II
• Increasing Triplet Subsequence
• Frequency of the Most Frequent Element
• Maximum Points You Can Obtain from Cards
• Number of Substrings Containing All Three Characters
• Substring with Concatenation of All Words
• Rotate String
• Longest Substring with At Least K Repeating Characters
• Reverse Pairs
• Find Pivot Index
• Rearrange Array Elements by Sign
• Count Binary Substrings
• Can Make Arithmetic Progression From Sequence
• Find Missing and Repeated Values
• Find All Numbers Disappeared in an Array
• Valid Triangle Number
• Maximum Sum of Distinct Subarrays With Length K
• Maximum Number of Vowels in a Substring of Given Length
• Shortest Unsorted Continuous Subarray
• Longest Substring with At Most K Distinct Characters
• Longest Mountain in Array
• Sort an Array
• Range Sum Query - Immutable
• Range Sum Query 2D - Immutable
• Product of the Last K Numbers
• Implement an LRU Cache
• Two Sum
• Contains Nearby Duplicate
• First Unique Character
• Valid Anagram
• Isomorphic Strings
• Valid Sudoku
• Continuous Subarray Sum
• Subarray Sums Divisible by K
• Happy Number
• Logger Rate Limiter
• Contains Duplicate
• Ransom Note
• Word Pattern
• Design HashMap
• Binary Subarrays With Sum
• LFU Cache
• Design Underground System
• Find All Duplicates in an Array
• Longest Palindrome
• Invalid Transactions
• Unique Number of Occurrences
• Subarrays with K Different Integers
• K-diff Pairs in an Array
• Max Number of K-Sum Pairs
• Jewels and Stones
• Find Common Characters
• Shortest Word Distance II
• Sort Array by Increasing Frequency
• Reverse a Linked List
• Reverse a Sublist
• Detect a Cycle (Floyd's Algorithm)
• Find the Cycle Entry
• Middle of a Linked List
• Merge Two Sorted Lists
• Merge K Sorted Lists
• Remove the Nth Node From the End
• Reorder List
• Palindrome Linked List
• Add Two Numbers
• Swap Nodes in Pairs
• Rotate List
• Odd Even Linked List
• Remove Duplicates from Sorted List II
• Sort List
• Reverse Nodes in k-Group
• Remove Duplicates from Sorted List
• Remove Linked List Elements
• Partition List
• Delete the Middle Node of a Linked List
• Add Two Numbers II
• Insertion Sort List
• Next Greater Node In Linked List
• Swapping Nodes in a Linked List
• Maximum Twin Sum of a Linked List
• Design Linked List
• Merge Nodes in Between Zeros
• Merge In Between Linked Lists
• Remove Zero Sum Consecutive Nodes from Linked List
• Reverse Nodes in Even Length Groups
• Linked List Components
• Valid Parentheses
• Min Stack
• Basic Calculator II
• Largest Rectangle in Histogram
• Remove K Digits
• Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses
• Asteroid Collision
• Simplify Path
• Basic Calculator
• Longest Valid Parentheses
• Sum of Subarray Minimums
• Next Greater Element I
• Final Prices With a Special Discount in a Shop
• Implement Queue using Stacks
• Minimum Add to Make Parentheses Valid
• 132 Pattern
• Remove Duplicate Letters
• Maximal Rectangle
• Car Fleet
• Backspace String Compare
• Baseball Game
• Basic Calculator III
• Sum of Subarray Ranges
• Maximum Width Ramp
• Remove Outermost Parentheses
• Design a Stack With Increment Operation
• Score of Parentheses
• Using a Robot to Print the Lexicographically Smallest String
• Sliding Window Maximum
• Rotting Oranges (Multi-source BFS)
• Binary Tree Level Order Traversal
• Design Circular Queue
• Shortest Path in Binary Matrix
• Implement Stack using Queues
• Find the Winner of the Circular Game
• Number of Students Unable to Eat Lunch
• Time Needed to Buy Tickets
• Dota2 Senate
• Snakes and Ladders
• Shortest Distance from All Buildings
• Minimum Genetic Mutation
• Find the Safest Path in a Grid
• Continuous Subarrays
• Count Subarrays With Fixed Bounds
• Kth Largest Element in an Array
• Task Scheduler
• Single-Threaded CPU Scheduling
• Top K Frequent Words
• Sort Characters by Frequency
• Kth Smallest Element in a Sorted Matrix
• Maximum Number of Events That Can Be Attended
• Meeting Rooms III
• Smallest Range Covering Elements from K Lists
• Design Twitter
• Seat Reservation Manager
• Total Cost to Hire K Workers
• Process Tasks Using Servers
• Find K Pairs with Smallest Sums
• Ugly Number II
• Minimum Cost to Hire K Workers
• Maximum Performance of a Team
• K-th Smallest Prime Fraction
• Stock Price Fluctuation
• Design Task Manager
• Find Score of an Array After Marking All Elements
• Maximal Score After Applying K Operations
• Search in Rotated Sorted Array
• Binary Search
• Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array
• Find a Peak Element
• Median of Two Sorted Arrays
• Search a 2D Matrix
• Sqrt(x)
• Single Element in a Sorted Array
• Search a 2D Matrix II
• Search in Rotated Sorted Array II
• Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold
• Magnetic Force Between Two Balls
• H-Index II
• Heaters
• Arranging Coins
• Maximum Candies Allocated to K Children
• Kth Smallest Number in Multiplication Table
• Find K-th Smallest Pair Distance
• Find Smallest Letter Greater Than Target
• Count Negative Numbers in a Sorted Matrix
• Successful Pairs of Spells and Potions
• Minimum Time to Complete Trips
• Minimized Maximum of Products Distributed to Any Store
• Minimum Speed to Arrive on Time
• Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree
• Maximum Depth of a Binary Tree
• Balanced Binary Tree
• Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum
• Construct a Tree From Preorder and Inorder
• Binary Tree Inorder Traversal (Iterative)
• Same Tree
• Symmetric Tree
• Subtree of Another Tree
• Binary Tree Zigzag Level Order Traversal
• All Nodes Distance K in Binary Tree
• Path Sum III
• Maximum Width of Binary Tree
• Flatten Binary Tree to Linked List
• Amount of Time for Binary Tree to Be Infected
• Boundary of Binary Tree
• Vertical Order Traversal of a Binary Tree
• Count Good Nodes in Binary Tree
• Binary Tree Cameras
• Binary Tree Paths
• Minimum Depth of Binary Tree
• Path Sum
• Count Complete Tree Nodes
• Cousins in Binary Tree
• Maximum Difference Between Node and Ancestor
• Longest ZigZag Path in a Binary Tree
• Binary Tree Preorder Traversal
• Merge Two Binary Trees
• Check Completeness of a Binary Tree
• Construct Binary Tree from Inorder and Postorder Traversal
• Maximum Level Sum of a Binary Tree
• Search in a Binary Search Tree
• Validate a Binary Search Tree
• Lowest Common Ancestor in a BST
• Insert Into a Binary Search Tree
• Delete a Node in a BST
• Convert a Sorted Array to a Balanced BST
• Two Sum IV - Input is a BST
• Closest Binary Search Tree Value
• Inorder Successor in BST
• Recover Binary Search Tree
• Convert Sorted List to Binary Search Tree
• Convert BST to Greater Tree
• Minimum Absolute Difference in BST
• Balance a Binary Search Tree
• Unique Binary Search Trees
• Construct Binary Search Tree from Preorder Traversal
• Find Mode in Binary Search Tree
• All Elements in Two Binary Search Trees
• Largest BST Subtree
• Count of Smaller Numbers After Self
• Maximum Sum BST in Binary Tree
• Closest Nodes Queries in a Binary Search Tree
• Contains Duplicate III
• Number of Islands
• Min Cost to Connect All Points (MST)
• Max Area of Island
• Flood Fill
• Surrounded Regions
• Number of Connected Components in an Undirected Graph
• Making A Large Island
• Find Eventual Safe States
• Parallel Courses III
• Minimum Height Trees
• Find if Path Exists in Graph
• Number of Distinct Islands
• Critical Connections in a Network
• Reorder Routes to Make All Paths Lead to the City Zero
• Detonate the Maximum Bombs
• Find All Possible Recipes from Given Supplies
• Minimum Fuel Cost to Report to the Capital
• Detect Cycles in 2D Grid
• Find the Town Judge
• Minimize Malware Spread
• Count Unreachable Pairs of Nodes in an Undirected Graph
• Longest Increasing Subsequence
• House Robber
• Decode Ways
• Longest Common Subsequence
• 0/1 Knapsack
• Matrix Chain Multiplication
• Burst Balloons
• Palindrome Partitioning II (Min Cuts)
• Maximum Product Subarray
• Palindromic Substrings
• House Robber II
• Unique Paths II
• Maximal Square
• Interleaving String
• Regular Expression Matching
• Maximum Profit in Job Scheduling
• Longest Increasing Path in a Matrix
• Min Cost Climbing Stairs
• Pascal's Triangle
• Triangle
• Perfect Squares
• Minimum Cost For Tickets
• Predict the Winner
• Maximum Sum Circular Subarray
• Wildcard Matching
• Distinct Subsequences
• Russian Doll Envelopes
• Minimum Falling Path Sum
• Dungeon Game
• Delete and Earn
• Integer Break
• Minimum Difficulty of a Job Schedule
• Minimum Cost to Cut a Stick
• Fibonacci Number
• Count Square Submatrices with All Ones
• Cherry Pickup
• Longest String Chain
• Number of Ways to Form a Target String Given a Dictionary
• Painting the Walls
• New 21 Game
• Stone Game III
• Maximum Sum of 3 Non-Overlapping Subarrays
• Generate Subsets and Permutations
• Permutations
• N-Queens
• Sudoku Solver
• Word Search
• Subsets II
• Combination Sum II
• Permutations II
• Palindrome Partitioning
• Restore IP Addresses
• Word Break II
• Subsets
• Combination Sum III
• Letter Case Permutation
• Matchsticks to Square
• Word Ladder II
• 24 Game
• Beautiful Arrangement
• Path with Maximum Gold
• Maximum Length of a Concatenated String with Unique Characters
• Unique Paths III
• N-Queens II
• Different Ways to Add Parentheses
• The k-th Lexicographical String of All Happy Strings of Length n
• Jump Game
• Jump Game II (Minimum Jumps)
• Fractional Knapsack
• Activity Selection (Max Meetings in One Room)
• Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock II
• Can Place Flowers
• Valid Parenthesis String
• Largest Number
• Hand of Straights
• Lemonade Change
• Queue Reconstruction by Height
• Minimum Deletions to Make Character Frequencies Unique
• Reduce Array Size to The Half
• Wiggle Subsequence
• Bag of Tokens
• Minimum Number of Taps to Open to Water a Garden
• Broken Calculator
• Minimum Initial Energy to Finish Tasks
• Minimum Number of Increments on Subarrays to Form a Target Array
• Move Pieces to Obtain a String
• Partitioning Into Minimum Number Of Deci-Binary Numbers
• Minimum Arrows to Burst Balloons
• Summary Ranges
• Remove Covered Intervals
• My Calendar II
• My Calendar III
• Video Stitching
• Count Days Without Meetings
• Range Module
• Divide Intervals Into Minimum Number of Groups
• Find Right Interval
• Minimum Time Difference
• The Skyline Problem
• Points That Intersect With Cars
• Word Search II
• Implement a Trie (Prefix Tree)
• Maximum XOR of Two Numbers
• Longest Word in Dictionary
• Design Search Autocomplete System
• Implement Magic Dictionary
• Lexicographical Numbers
• Remove Sub-Folders from the Filesystem
• Words Within Two Edits of Dictionary
• Count Prefix and Suffix Pairs
• Number of 1 Bits (Brian Kernighan)
• Missing Number
• Sum of Two Integers Without + or -
• Add Binary
• Single Number II
• Single Number III
• Bitwise AND of Numbers Range
• Find the Difference
• Minimum Flips to Make a OR b Equal to c
• Gray Code
• Maximum Product of Word Lengths
• Divide Two Integers
• Reverse Bits
• Number Complement
• Binary Watch
• Minimum Operations to Reduce an Integer to 0
• Minimum Bit Flips to Convert Number
• Concatenation of Consecutive Binary Numbers
• Binary Gap
• Find Kth Bit in Nth Binary String
• XOR Queries of a Subarray
• Number of Steps to Reduce a Number to Zero
• Find The Original Array of Prefix Xor
• Prime Check
• Count Primes (Sieve of Eratosthenes)
• Greatest Common Divisor of Strings
• Permutation Sequence (k-th Permutation)
• Palindrome Number
• Reverse Integer
• Roman to Integer
• Integer to Roman
• String to Integer (atoi)
• Multiply Strings
• Excel Sheet Column Title
• Fraction to Recurring Decimal
• Integer to English Words
• Angle Between Hands of a Clock
• Plus One
• Add Strings
• Fizz Buzz
• Count and Say
• Bulb Switcher
• Max Points on a Line
• Robot Bounded In Circle
• Power of Three
• Ugly Number
• Add Digits
• Perfect Number
• Count Good Numbers
• Number of Digit One
• Compare Version Numbers
• Excel Sheet Column Number
• Nth Digit
• Factorial Trailing Zeroes
• Water and Jug Problem
• Nim Game
• The kth Factor of n
• Count Numbers with Unique Digits
• Rectangle Area
• Base 7
• Find the Closest Palindrome
• Design a Parking Lot
• Design a Vending Machine
• Design Snakes and Ladders
• Design Connect Four
• Design a Chess Game
• Design a Deck of Cards for Blackjack
• Design Tic-Tac-Toe
• Design Splitwise
• Design an ATM
• Design a Library Management System
• Design a Meeting Room Scheduler
• Design a Movie Ticket Booking System
• Design a Q&A Site like Stack Overflow
• Design a Text Editor with Undo and Redo
• Design a Spreadsheet with Formulas
• Design a Logging Framework
• Design an In-Memory Pub/Sub Message Broker
• Design a Task Scheduler
• Design a File Search Tool (Unix find)
• Design a Cache with Pluggable Eviction
• Design a Bounded Blocking Queue
• Design an In-Memory File System
• Tell me about yourself
• Tell me about a time you worked with ambiguity
• Tell me about a time you helped someone grow
• Why are you leaving your current role?
• What are you looking for in your next team?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• Tell me about working with a difficult stakeholder
• Tell me about a time you had to compromise
• Tell me about delivering a project across multiple teams
• Tell me about a time you led without formal authority
• Tell me about a time you improved how your team works
• Tell me about working with an underperforming teammate
• How do you prioritize competing demands?
• Tell me about a mistake that affected others
• What is a weakness you're working on?
• Tell me about the hardest bug you've debugged
• Tell me about a time you made the case for paying down tech debt
• Tell me about a time you had to earn the trust of a skeptical team
• Tell me about raising the bar when hiring or developing people
• Your team is split on a technical direction. What do you do?
• Tell me about a time you made sure every voice on your team was heard
• Tell me about a time you changed your mind
• Refactor a Legacy Module with AI
• Review an AI-Generated Pull Request
• Fix a Concurrency Bug with AI