Meta Software Engineer System Design Questions
149+ questions from real Meta Software Engineer System Design rounds, reported by candidates who interviewed there.
What does the Meta System Design round test?
The Meta system design round assesses a candidate's ability to architect scalable systems. Software Engineer candidates are typically asked to design a large-scale service or platform from scratch, covering database choices, API design, scaling strategy, and failure modes.
Top Topics in This Round
Meta Software Engineer System Design Questions
Meta E5 Onsite
https://leetcode.com/problems/minesweeper/ with creating maze https://leetcode.com/problems/shortest-path-in-binary-matrix/ with printing shortest path https://leetcode.com/problems/balance-a-binary-search-tree/ System Design: Instagram Prepare well for HM round, use meta careers resources Sorry, wont be able to respond to comments.
Meta E4 | Onsite | Reject
My interview process at Meta lasted for around 3 months. Really it was a long journey and yeah I studied day and night for this opportunity. Cleared screening and also gave...
Meta Swe, Infra- E4 USA loop interview
Hi everyone, I recently completed 3 of my loop rounds and was wondering where do I stand. 1. Behavioural went good. I was able to tell a story without any difficulties in proper Star format and answer
Meta System Design
Recently did the E4 infa onsite, with all the other posts about what leetcode questions there are a ton good posts out there, and I wouldnt be adding anything new...
Meta onsite Product E5 | US
My contribution back to LC folks Code1: 1.NestedList sum values multiplied by depth 2. LCA 3 Fully solved working solutoins, near optimal and bug free with complexity for Q1. Needed 1 hint Q2,...
Meta onsite Product E5 | US
My contribution back to LC folks Code1: 1.NestedList sum values multiplied by depth 2. LCA 3 Fully solved working solutoins, near optimal and bug free with complexity for Q1. Needed 1 hint Q2, no...
Meta/Facebook | E4/E5 | Onsite
Recently did a Meta Onsite. # DO YOU THINK I PASSED? :P Coding: - Ocean View: https://leetcode.com/problems/buildings-with-an-ocean-view/ \t- O(n) Time O(n) space - Lowest Common Ancestor: https://leetcode.com/problems/lowest-common-ancestor-of-a-binary-tree-iii/ \t- O(log n) Time O(n) Space - Nested List https://leetcode.com/problems/nested-list-weight-sum/ \t-...
Facebook product design
Just had my product design round for E5 got the "Design a file download API a client uses to download a file locally. Client will be able to send the...
Meta Data Collection Engineer System Design and Python DSA Interview
Design round: 1. Ad - aggregator service. Asked how to scale with number of servers and db estimations DSA in python: 1. Linkedlist with nodes having strings. check if both linked list have same value
Meta SWE Full Loop Coming Up (Coding + AI Coding + System Design) – Best Resources to Prepare?
Hey everyone, I have a Meta full loop interview coming up soon for SWE, and the rounds are: • 1 Coding • 1 AI Coding • 1 System Design I’m trying to prepare efficiently and would really appreciate gui
Meta system design grilled
Just had a system design interviewthe interviewer were not convinced with my explanation not sure why as I tried to explain them in detail as well I had a coding round previously and it went well have
Meta Onsite Interview Experience: Coding and System Design Rounds
**Round 1: Coding** * **Problem 1:** Determine and print the left view and right view of a binary tree. * **Problem 2:** Merge three separate sorted arrays into a single sorted array while removing an
Meta SDE2 Interview Experience (2024): Coding, AI-Enabled, System Design
**Phone Screen** * **Problems:** [Add Strings](https://leetcode.com/problems/add-strings/) and [Top K Frequent Elements](https://leetcode.com/problems/top-k-frequent-elements/). * **Performance:** Com
E4 Interview Experience ( REJECT)
Tech Screen Question 1: Range Sum of a Binary Tree I clarified the requirements upfront, discussing multiple approaches and getting buy-in from the interviewer. I also proposed test cases and edge cases...
Leetcode-style interview - a perspective from someone with 25+ EOY in Big tech
There has been a lot of (I do not want to say 'discussion', because when the most upvoted comments are 'anyone who uses LC questions is dim and unimaginative' it's not a discussion ... ) but it seems
Anyone recently interview for Meta Infra SDE? What system design questions did you get?
Hey folks, I have an upcoming interview for a **Meta Infrastructure SDE** role and I’m trying to get a sense of what kind of **system design questions** are being asked lately. If you’ve interviewed f
Meta E5 (Haven't received, but definitely will be) Rejected, Onsite Interview Process
I'm definitely getting rejected after that ludicrous performance I'll give yall an overview so I can give back to the community. Just finished 2 hours ago: * Day 1 - Behavioral * I fucking rocked this
How should I practice System Design for a Front-End position at Meta?
I'm currently preparing to apply for a Front-End Engineer position at Meta and wanted to ask about the best way to practice System Design for this role. I’ve noticed that most system design resources
Crushed after Meta E4 Rejection
I just got my final rejection from Meta, and I’m honestly crushed. After weeks of interviews being rescheduled and reshuffled, I finally made it all the way to the hiring committee—only to be rejected
VENT : Meta doesn't want you to succeed
On site: 2 Coding , 2 AI System design, 1 behavioral Coding 1 : Aced Feedback : Strong Hire Coding 2 : Aced Feedback : Strong Hire Design 1 : This is not your usual system design, but domain specific.
What to Expect in the Meta System Design Round
The Meta Software Engineer System Design round has a specific calibration purpose distinct from other rounds in the loop. Across 149+ verified reports on LeakCode for this exact round type, the consistent expectations: clear scoping of the problem before diving into a solution, explicit reasoning about complexity, structured handling of edge cases, and the ability to discuss trade-offs between two reasonable approaches.
Reports tagged with the System Design round at Meta show recurring patterns in difficulty and topic distribution. The System Design round is typically 45-60 minutes; the interviewer is calibrated against a specific rubric. The discriminator between candidates who advance and candidates who do not is rarely the final correctness of the answer. It is the path: did you clarify, did you verbalize your approach, did you handle edge cases, and did you communicate throughout.
How To Prepare for This Specific Round
Filter the questions below to the most recent reports (past 6-12 months). Questions tagged for this exact round type from this exact company at this exact role level are the highest-signal data available. Older reports may reference questions that have since rotated out of the company's pool.
Practice 4-6 representative problems from this set under timed conditions. The goal is not memorization (companies rotate questions); the goal is to internalize the patterns the interviewer typically reaches for and the depth of follow-up to expect. Reports on LeakCode also tag the typical follow-up depth at this round type, which is the discriminating signal between hire and no-hire calibration.
System Design Round Timing and Format
The System Design round at Meta typically runs 45-60 minutes. Use the first 2-3 minutes to clarify requirements; you should never start coding or designing without verifying the input/output format, constraints, and edge cases out loud. Use the next 5-7 minutes to verbalize your approach before writing any code. The middle 20-30 minutes are implementation. Reserve the final 10 minutes for testing with concrete examples and discussing optimization or trade-offs.
Time budget discipline is one of the most reliable senior-vs-junior discriminators in this round. Strong candidates verbalize where they are in their budget out loud ("I've used about 20 minutes, I have 15 minutes left for testing and one optimization"). This signals engineering maturity to the interviewer and creates positive feedback they can capture in writing.
Common Failure Modes in This Round
Reports tagged "no hire" at Meta Software Engineer System Design commonly cite: coding silently without verbalizing approach, jumping to implementation before clarifying requirements, missing edge cases (empty input, single element, very large input), producing working code that the candidate cannot refactor when asked, and failing to test their solution with concrete examples before declaring done.
The single most predictive failure mode in 2025-2026 reports: not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers at all FAANG companies are explicitly trained to weight this dimension. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's notes.
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