Azure AZ-900 exam guide covering cloud concepts, Azure services, governance, pricing, and support decisions.
This guide targets Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900), Microsoft’s current entry certification for cloud concepts, Azure architecture, Azure services, and management and governance basics. The exam is not asking you to administer Azure like an AZ-104 candidate. It is asking you to classify the stem correctly: cloud concept, Azure service family, or management and governance tool.
Shared responsibility model: Cloud-security split where Microsoft secures the underlying cloud platform while the customer still secures data, identities, configurations, and workloads they control.
At a glance
Exam fact
Current official value
Level
Beginner
Current certification page last updated
January 14, 2026
Time limit
45 minutes
Delivery
Proctored exam, with possible interactive components
Current passing score
700
Current practice tools
Practice Assessment and Exam Sandbox
Current skill areas
Cloud concepts; Azure architecture and services; Azure management and governance
As of April 14, 2026, Microsoft Learn’s current certification page and study guide show AZ-900 as a beginner exam with three weighted skill areas and a study-guide skills version dated January 14, 2026. That matters because the strongest answer usually stays at the right level of abstraction instead of diving into implementation detail too early.
This guide follows the current Microsoft structure directly as:
distinguish general cloud concepts from Azure-specific services
separate architecture and services from management and governance
choose the answer that best matches Microsoft’s product category language rather than the most technical-sounding option
remember that AZ-900 is conceptual first, even when product names appear
What weak answers usually do
Failure pattern
Better instinct
picking a deeper implementation answer because it sounds more “technical”
stay at the Microsoft Fundamentals altitude
mixing hierarchy, identity, and governance into one blob
classify scope, access, and control separately
confusing Azure Monitor, Service Health, Advisor, and Policy
ask whether the stem is about visibility, incidents, recommendations, or enforcement
answering with a product name before identifying the job to be done
choose the category first, then the service
Review flow
flowchart LR
A["Study plan"] --> B["1. Cloud Concepts"]
B --> C["2. Azure Architecture and Services"]
C --> D["3. Azure Management and Governance"]
D --> E["Practice assessment and sandbox"]
E --> F["Cheat sheet, glossary, and final review"]
Best fit for this guide
If you are coming from…
Bias your review toward…
non-technical or business roles
cloud concepts, pricing, governance, and what Azure is for
help desk or support
service categories, identity basics, and management tools
future Azure admin, developer, or architect path
core services now, then move into AZ-104 or AZ-204 next
If two answers both sound right
For AZ-900, the better answer is often:
the service category instead of a lower-level implementation detail
the governance tool when the question is really about policy, cost, or control
the broader Azure product family when the wording stays conceptual