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Microsoft SDE1 Interview Guide

Published July 22, 2026 · Updated July 22, 2026

Evidence-backed preparation playbook for Microsoft SDE1 interviews. 3 reported questions, top topics, difficulty breakdown, and a free assessment.

3
Questions reported
Medium
Difficulty
All levels
Most reported exp
2
Interview rounds
Rounds reported
Screening 2qTechnical 1q
Topics most frequently reported
✓DSA / Trees 2 questions · 67%
✓DSA / Arrays 1 question · 33%
Free · 10 minutes

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Top Questions — Ranked by Community Votes

These 3 questions appeared most in Microsoft SDE1 reports. Master these first.

Microsoft Easy Screening round

Given a binary search tree, find the kth smallest element. Optimize for the case where this function is called many times on a static tree.

↑ 67 upvotes · 41 engineers asked this · SDE1
Microsoft Medium Technical round JavaC#Python

Given a binary tree, print nodes level by level (BFS traversal). Then modify it to print alternate levels in reverse order (zigzag traversal). Analyse time and space complexity.

↑ 61 upvotes · 40 engineers asked this · SDE1
Microsoft Easy Screening round JavaC#Python

Find all pairs in an array that sum to a given target value. Explain the HashSet approach for O(n) time, handle duplicate pairs correctly, and discuss edge cases (negative numbers, empty array).

↑ 55 upvotes · 37 engineers asked this · SDE1

Same role at other companies

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More at Microsoft

All Microsoft questions Microsoft interview process

Frequently asked questions

How hard is the Microsoft SDE1 interview?
Medium difficulty based on 3 reported questions. Most questions cover DSA / Trees, DSA / Arrays.
What topics does Microsoft ask SDE1s?
Top reported topics: DSA / Trees (2 questions), DSA / Arrays (1 questions).
How many rounds does Microsoft have for SDE1?
Reported rounds: Screening, Technical.
What experience level does Microsoft hire SDE1s at?
Varies by position.