Microsoft DSA Interview Questions

What Microsoft asks in the DSA round

Microsoft favours linked lists, trees, strings and practical design questions. Expect strong emphasis on edge cases, null handling, and explaining your reasoning as you go.

Across the 1387 questions on this page, the weight sits on these patterns:

• Dynamic Programming — 226 questions · read the dynamic programming guide
• Greedy — 108 questions · read the greedy guide
• Breadth-First Search — 102 questions · read the breadth first search (bfs) guide
• Binary Search — 85 questions · read the modified binary search guide
• Math — 75 questions
• Two Pointers — 70 questions · read the two pointers guide
• Database — 61 questions
• Simulation — 57 questions

How to prepare for the Microsoft interview

1. 1. Start at the top of the list above. The patterns are ordered by how often Microsoft uses them, so the first two or three buy you the most coverage per hour.
2. 2. Solve by pattern, not at random. Doing eight dynamic programming problems in a row is what makes the ninth recognisable in an interview — jumping between topics does not.
3. 3. Tick problems off as you go so the gaps are visible. The per-pattern counts tell you which Microsoft topic you have actually covered.
4. 4. Write the approach before the code. Microsoft interviews are judged on the reasoning as much as the working solution.
5. 5. Pair this with the pattern guides when a topic is new, and the system design sheet if the role is senior enough to have that round.
6. 6. If this is a campus or off-campus drive rather than a lateral move, the placement preparation guide covers the stages around the DSA round — aptitude, core subjects and the HR interview — in the order they actually happen.

Microsoft interview questions — FAQ

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