AZ-900 Exam Guide: Cost, Format and Study Plan

AZ-900 is Microsoft's beginner exam for Azure. You need a score of 700 or higher to pass, and the exam is proctored. We suggest about four weeks of part-time study for most beginners, with a few hours each week and practice in a real Azure account.

This guide gives you the skill weights, the exam format, the price, a weekly plan and the mistakes to avoid.

What AZ-900 proves and who it is for

The exam leads to Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals. Microsoft says it shows foundational knowledge of cloud concepts, core Azure services, plus Azure management and governance features and tools. The level is Beginner.

Microsoft describes the candidate as a technology professional who wants to show foundational knowledge of cloud in general and Azure in particular. It calls the certification a common starting point for a career in Azure. You should have some experience in an area of IT, such as infrastructure management, database management or software development.

If you are brand new to IT, the exam is still a reasonable goal. Just add a week for basic networking and storage terms.

Skills measured and what each area is worth

The official study guide lists the skills measured as of July 20, 2026. Study in proportion to the weights.

The middle area is the largest, and it is also the widest. Governance is close behind, and many beginners underestimate it because the tools sound similar.

Exam format at a glance

These facts come from the official exam page and the study guide.

Microsoft offers two tools to learn the style of the exam. The practice assessment shows the wording and difficulty of questions. The exam sandbox lets you try the question types in the same interface you will use on exam day.

The English exam is updated first. Localized versions follow roughly eight weeks later, so a translated exam may lag behind the current skills list.

Cost: list price, our voucher price and how redemption works

Prices below are in USD, as listed on October 28, 2026. Microsoft says the exam price depends on the country or region where you take the exam, so check your own region before you buy.

Here is how our voucher works:

• The code is emailed within 12 hours of payment. It also appears in your account.

• The voucher is valid for 12 months and is redeemed with Pearson VUE.

• You can cancel an order for a full refund before delivery.

• A delivered code is non-refundable unless the test provider rejects it as invalid, already used or expired on first use. In that case, contact support within 14 days with your order number and a screenshot. The code is then replaced or refunded.

Full terms are on our refund policy and delivery policy pages. For the steps from code to booked exam, read How Exam Vouchers Work.

A four-week study plan with weekly hours

This is our suggested plan for a beginner with a job or classes. It is a guide, not an official requirement. If you already work with Azure, cut it to two weeks.

Total: about 24 hours.

Start each week with the matching section of the study guide. Use the bullets as a checklist and tick a topic only when you can explain it without notes.

In week 4, take the free practice assessment. Review every wrong answer and write down why the right answer is right. Then repeat the weak topics before you book.

Hands-on lab and a worked example

Reading is not enough for service names that sound alike. A short lab in the Azure portal or Azure CLI makes them stick. Use a disposable resource group and delete it afterward so you do not pay for idle resources.

az login
az group create --name rg-az900-lab --location eastus
az storage account create --name <unique-lowercase-name> --resource-group rg-az900-lab --sku Standard_LRS
az tag update --resource-id $(az group show --name rg-az900-lab --query id -o tsv) --operation Merge --tags purpose=study
az group delete --name rg-az900-lab --yes

These commands cover several exam topics at once: resource groups, storage redundancy (Standard_LRS is locally redundant), tags and cleanup. Try the same steps in the portal and compare.

Worked example: choosing a service type

A question might say a team wants to deploy a web app without managing the operating system or runtime. Work through it in three steps:

1. If you manage the OS yourself, that is IaaS, such as a virtual machine.

2. If the provider manages the OS and runtime and you manage the app and data, that is PaaS.

3. If you only use finished software, that is SaaS.

The answer here is PaaS. Use the same method on hierarchy questions. The order is management groups, then subscriptions, then resource groups, then resources.

Common mistakes that cost points

• Memorizing dumps instead of learning concepts. Questions change, and the exam can include interactive components. Concepts transfer, memorized answers do not.

• Skipping governance. Azure Policy, resource locks, tags and Microsoft Purview together make up a large part of a 30–35% area.

• Mixing up similar tools. Azure Monitor tracks performance, Azure Service Health reports Azure incidents, and Azure Advisor gives recommendations. Write one line for each.

• Never opening the portal. Even 30 minutes of clicking helps you recognize the screens that the questions describe.

• Skipping the sandbox. Try the question types before exam day so the interface is not a surprise.

• Studying from an old syllabus. Check the skills list date. The current one is July 20, 2026.

What to do after you pass

Connect your certification profile to your Microsoft Learn profile. Microsoft says this lets you share and print certificates.

Then pick a direction. Azure is the product, and Microsoft describes AZ-900 as a starting point toward an Azure career. If you are curious about AI services, AI-900 Azure AI Fundamentals is another beginner exam.

Ready to book? Get your AZ-900 voucher and schedule through Pearson VUE.

Sources

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (official exam page)

• Study guide for Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

• BuyExamVouchers refund policy

• BuyExamVouchers delivery policy