Exam AZ-104, Microsoft Azure Administrator, earns the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. This guide covers who it is for, how the exam works, what the five skill areas test, what changed in the April 2026 update, how to renew and a suggested way to prepare.
AZ-104 at a glance
| Detail | AZ-104 |
|---|---|
| Awarded by | Microsoft |
| Certification | Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate |
| Level | Intermediate (associate) |
| Time | 100 minutes |
| Questions | Not listed for AZ-104; Microsoft says most of its exams have 40–60 |
| Passing score | 700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000 (scaled) |
| Delivery | Proctored, scheduled through Pearson VUE |
| Languages | English, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional), Italian |
| Price | Depends on the country or region where you take it |
| Renewal | Every 12 months, free, with an online assessment on Microsoft Learn |
Who it is for
Microsoft describes the candidate as someone with subject matter expertise in implementing, managing and monitoring an organization’s Microsoft Azure environment, including virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security and governance.
An Azure administrator often works as part of a larger team that implements an organization’s cloud infrastructure. You also coordinate with other roles to deliver Azure networking, security, database, application development and DevOps solutions.
Recommended experience
Microsoft says you should be familiar with:
- operating systems
- networking
- servers
- virtualization
You should also have experience with PowerShell, Azure CLI, the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager templates or Bicep files and Microsoft Entra ID. The certification page and study guide do not list any formal prerequisite.
The exam format
You have 100 minutes. The exam is proctored and may include interactive components. Microsoft does not reveal question types in advance, but its exam sandbox lets you try the exam interface and question formats before you book. Most questions cover features that are generally available, though commonly used Preview features can appear.
- Scoring: you need 700 or more on a scale of 1 to 1,000. This is a scaled score, so it may not equal 70% of the points. There is no penalty for guessing, and some questions may be unscored without telling you which.
- Microsoft Learn is open: on associate and expert exams you can open Microsoft Learn in a split screen. No extra time is added and the clock keeps running.
- Breaks: five minutes are built into the exam time for breaks. The clock keeps running, and you cannot return to questions you saw before the break.
- Language: if the exam is not available in your preferred language, you can request an extra 30 minutes.
- Retakes: you must wait 24 hours after a first failed attempt and 14 days between later attempts. You cannot take the same exam more than five times in 12 months from your first attempt.
The official skills measured
The AZ-104 study guide groups the exam into five skill areas. This is how it describes them, in brief:
| Skill area | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Manage Azure identities and governance | 20–25% | Creating and managing Microsoft Entra users and groups, licenses, external users and self-service password reset. Built-in Azure roles, role assignments at different scopes and interpreting access. Azure Policy, resource locks, tags, resource groups, subscriptions, management groups, and managing costs with alerts, budgets and Azure Advisor. |
| Implement and manage storage | 15–20% | Storage firewalls and virtual networks, SAS tokens, stored access policies, access keys and identity-based access for Azure Files. Creating storage accounts, redundancy, object replication, encryption, Storage Explorer and AzCopy. File shares, blob containers, storage tiers, soft delete and snapshots, lifecycle management and blob versioning. |
| Deploy and manage Azure compute resources | 20–25% | Reading, changing and deploying ARM templates and Bicep files, and exporting or converting them. Creating VMs, encryption at host, moving VMs, sizes, disks, availability zones and sets, and Virtual Machine Scale Sets. Azure Container Registry, Container Instances and Container Apps. App Service plans, scaling, certificates and TLS, custom DNS names, backup, networking and deployment slots. |
| Implement and manage virtual networking | 15–20% | Virtual networks, subnets, peering, public IP addresses, user-defined routes and troubleshooting connectivity. Network security groups and application security groups, effective security rules, Azure Bastion, and service and private endpoints. Azure DNS, and configuring and troubleshooting internal or public load balancers. |
| Monitor and maintain Azure resources | 10–15% | Metrics, log settings and log queries in Azure Monitor, alert rules, action groups and alert processing rules, Azure Monitor Insights, Network Watcher and Connection monitor. Recovery Services and Backup vaults, backup policies, backup and restore, Azure Site Recovery, failover to a secondary region, and backup reports and alerts. |
Identities and governance and compute carry the most weight. Monitoring and maintenance is the smallest area, but it is still up to 15% of the exam.
What changed in 2026
Skills measured as of April 17, 2026. Microsoft’s change log marks the audience profile and five groups as minor changes: Configure Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage, Create and configure virtual machines, Provision and manage containers in the Azure portal, Configure and manage virtual networks in Azure, and Monitor resources in Azure. The skill areas listed in the change log are marked as no change.
Microsoft updates the English version of an exam first. Localized versions are updated about eight weeks after the English version, although Microsoft says this schedule can slip.
Official study resources
- the AZ-104 study guide, which lists every skill measured and the change log
- self-paced learning paths and modules, or an instructor-led course, linked from the study guide
- the Azure documentation, including Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Policy, Azure Storage, ARM templates, Container Instances, Container Apps, App Service, Azure DNS, Azure Bastion, Azure Monitor, Network Watcher, Site Recovery and Azure Backup
- the free Practice Assessment on Microsoft Learn, which shows the style, wording and difficulty of exam questions
- the exam sandbox, to practise the exam interface
- the Exam AZ-104 prep videos and the Exam Readiness Zone
A suggested 6-week study plan
This is our suggested plan. It follows the five skill areas and gives time in line with their weights.
- Week 1: Identity and governance. Entra users and groups, licenses, external users and SSPR, then Azure RBAC roles and scopes, Azure Policy, locks, tags, management groups and cost controls.
- Week 2: Storage. Storage accounts and redundancy, firewalls, SAS tokens and access keys, encryption, Azure Files, blob tiers, soft delete, versioning, lifecycle rules, object replication and AzCopy.
- Week 3: Compute. ARM templates and Bicep, VM sizes, disks, availability zones and sets, scale sets, moving VMs, containers, and App Service plans, slots, certificates and networking.
- Week 4: Networking. VNets and subnets, peering, user-defined routes, NSGs and application security groups, Bastion, service and private endpoints, Azure DNS and load balancers.
- Week 5: Monitoring and backup. Azure Monitor metrics, logs and alerts, Network Watcher, Recovery Services and Backup vaults, backup policies, restores and Site Recovery failover.
- Week 6: Practice and review. Take the free Practice Assessment and full-length timed practice exams, read every explanation, and revisit the areas where you score lowest. Practise finding answers quickly on Microsoft Learn, since it is open during the exam but the clock keeps running.
Keeping your certification
The Azure Administrator Associate certification has a 12-month renewal frequency. Renewal is free: you pass a short online renewal assessment on Microsoft Learn, which becomes available six months before your certification expires. The assessment is unproctored and open book, takes about 45 minutes, and can be retaken as often as needed before expiry. Passing it extends your certification by one year from the expiration date. If the certification expires, you must pass the exam again.
I run ExamCrest, where this guide first appeared. Try free AZ-104 practice questions: https://examcrest.com/exam/ms-az-104/free-questions?utm_source=devto&utm_campaign=g-n1a-az-104
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