Microsoft OA Questions 2020: What Candidates Actually Saw
Last updated: May 2026
32+ Microsoft online assessment questions reported by candidates who took the OA in 2020. Sourced from 1Point3Acres, LeetCode, Blind, Glassdoor, and Reddit. Data grows as new reports are added.
Microsoft OA Format in 2020
The Microsoft online assessment has followed a consistent format across multiple hiring cycles. Based on 2020 reports in the database, candidates typically see 2 to 3 algorithmic coding problems delivered through a proctored online platform (most commonly HackerRank). Some roles include additional behavioral or work-simulation components after the coding section.
Time limits reported by candidates range from 70 to 110 minutes for the full assessment. The coding problems are auto-graded, so edge case handling and runtime efficiency both matter. Partial credit is available on some platforms if your solution passes a subset of test cases.
Real Microsoft OA Questions from 2020
Microsoft | OA | Codility
Took Microsoft OA yesterday: 2 coding and 10 MCQ 1. Maximum possible value by inserting \'5\' examples: input: 1234 -> output: 51234 input: 7643 -> output 76543 input: 0 -> output 50 input: -661 -> output...
Microsoft Phone Assessment
Inteviewed for IC3 team but the interviewer had really poor headphones on and I couldn\'t make out most of the stuff he said/asked. Got one question asked on codility which...
Microsoft interview question
Parse json string without using any library String = {"name": "John", "age": 31, "city": "Seattle, WA" , "Graduate": false} Location: Redmond, WA, position Senior Software Engineer round: Codility assessment.
Microsoft Azure Onsite Pool Interview
YOE: 5 Appeared for an Onsite Interview with Microsoft. Interview experience was great. I had cleared the OA questions listed as below and from certain Leetcode posts. https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/398023/Microsoft-Online-Assessment-Questions 3 interviews (1 hour each)...
Microsoft OA 2020
Got 3 questions in Total with 1 debugging and 2 coding questions: 1. Simple debugging question- Find a mistake within and modify the code. 2. https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/525977/Microsoft-or-OA-2020-or-Largest-number-X-which-occurs-X-times 3. https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/451422/ Thanks to the Leetcode Community....
[OA] Microsoft 2020
Three questions in total, I tried searching the final two on LC but didn\'t find them - https://leetcode.com/problems/find-n-unique-integers-sum-up-to-zero/ - Count visible nodes in binary tree -> there are many questions like this...
Microsoft | Online Assessment | Max sum in an array from more than one pair
Given an array of N positive integers in random order (duplicates are possible), find a maximum sum that can be generated with more than one pair of array elements. If...
Microsoft Interview Question (Rejected)
I need some help in figuring out what I did wrong with this problem. Question: Given binary string representation of a positive integer find how many operations would it take...
Microsoft hiring event in lockdown
My experience of interviewing with Microsoft in COVID lockdown. Hiring event contains 4 rounds of 45 mins. each with 15 mins. break after each round. 1. Interviewer gave 1 scenario related...
Microsoft | OA 2020 | Min deletions to obtain a word with even character occurrences
You are given a string s. You should return the minimum number of deletions to obtain a word with even frequency of each character. Constraints: Input within the a-z charset. Test cases: 1) f("acbcbba")...
Microsoft | OA | 2020
Minimum deletions required to make frequency of each letter unique Input: "aabbffddeaee" Output: 6 Input: "example" Output: 4
My Microsoft Interview Experience [Offer]
Hello, Little about me: I am coming from a different engineering background, so I transitioned my career to software engineering. I have 2+ YOE in programming. Interview process: I was reached out by a...
Microsoft offer. HURRAYYY!!
My role got terminated in July due to COVID situation. But I was confident that I will get a job in some company not FAANG or Microsoft. It was a tough...
Microsoft Azure Onsite interview experience
Hi all, Went through onsite for microsoft azure pool interview. Overall Interview experience was great: 3 (1 hour) itnerviews with different teams: \t2 coding rounds( 2 easy, 2 Medium) with extensions to...
Microsoft | SDE | Bay Area | Apr-Sep 2020 [Offer] | My other rejection stories
<b>Offer</b> Status: B.E. + 2 years experience and M.S. + 3 years experience from a decent company Position: SDE at Microsoft Location: San Fransisco and Mountain View, CA Date: Sep 2020. <b>My preparation and tips</b> Journey:...
Microsoft | Associate Consultant | Hyderabad | Oct 2020 [Offer]
Status: New grad, B.Tech 2021 (Campus placement) Position: Associate Consultant at Microsoft Location: Hyderabad, India Date: Late September - October 2020 ## Online Assessment (85 minutes) (Held in early September on Mettl) Each section had separate...
Microsoft | Software Engineer | Hyderabad | Dec 2020 [Offer]
Work Experience: 2 years - Software Developer Position: Software Engineer at Microsoft Location: Hyderabad, India Date: December, 2020 Process of Applying : I applied on the career website many times. I asked many of my...
Microsoft Online Assessment Questions, Solutions and Test Cases;
Quetions are here:https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/398023/Microsoft-Online-Assessment-Questions I have completed most of the solutions with test cases here: //Largest M-aligned Subset public static int largestMAlignedSubset(int[] nums, int M) { if (M <= 1) return nums.length; Map<Integer,...
Microsoft | Hiring Event | Onsite (Virtual)
This was a hiring event onsite, but conducted virtaully via codility due to COVID-19. 4 rounds, the below questions were asked: 844. Backspace String Compare follow up: how to handle left/right arrow...
Microsoft | Online assessment | Riddle
You\'re given a string that contains only letters \'a\' to \'z\' and character \'?\'. Write an efficient algorithm that\'s replacing all characters \'?\' with letters \'a\' to \'z\' in such...
Topic Breakdown (2020 OA)
Topics reported by candidates who took the Microsoft OA in 2020:
Difficulty Breakdown (2020 OA)
11
easy
1
hard
Difficulty labels are reported by candidates or inferred from LeetCode ratings.
How to Prepare for the Microsoft OA
The Microsoft OA is a timed, auto-graded coding test. Preparation is different from interview prep: you need to optimize for both correctness and speed, since partial credit requires passing test cases, not just showing reasoning.
- Practice timed sessions. Set a timer for 35 to 45 minutes per problem and simulate the real constraint.
- Focus on the topic clusters that appear most in Microsoft OA reports: dynamic programming, graphs, arrays, and strings make up the majority of reported problems.
- Read the problem constraints carefully before writing code. The constraints often reveal the expected time complexity and algorithm type.
- Use the LeakCode database to review 2020 OA questions from actual candidates. Pattern recognition across multiple sightings is a stronger prep signal than any single mock problem.
- If the OA includes a work simulation section, practice under realistic conditions. This section tests judgment and values alignment, not coding ability.
FAQ
What does the Microsoft OA look like in 2020?
Based on 2020 candidate reports, the Microsoft OA typically includes 2 to 3 coding problems and runs 70 to 110 minutes. Topics lean toward dynamic programming, graphs, arrays, and strings. Some roles include a work simulation section after the coding component.
How long is the Microsoft OA?
Most candidates report 70 to 90 minutes for the coding component. Roles with additional work simulation sections extend the total time to 110 to 150 minutes. Check your invitation email for the exact time allocation for your specific role.
What platform does Microsoft use for the OA?
Microsoft uses HackerRank or its own proprietary platform depending on the role and hiring cycle. Your invitation will specify the platform. Both platforms support multiple languages including Python, Java, C++, and JavaScript.
Are these real Microsoft OA questions?
Yes. All questions in the LeakCode database come from candidate reports on 1Point3Acres, Blind, Glassdoor, Reddit, and LeetCode. They are not AI-generated. Each question links to its source where available.
Other Microsoft OA Years
Related: Microsoft OA Hub · Microsoft All Questions · All OA Questions · Data Sources