How Long Are Microsoft AI Exams? Duration Guide 2026

Last updated: September 2026. Every duration, break rule and accommodation policy in this guide was checked against Microsoft Learn on 11 September 2026.

TL;DR: Microsoft AI exams give you 45 minutes (AB-730, AB-731, AB-900, AI-901) or 120 minutes (AI-103, AB-620, AB-410), with AB-100 in the 100-minute band. Seat time adds 20 minutes. Breaks are allowed but the clock keeps running, Microsoft Learn access adds no time, and non-native English speakers can request an extra 30 minutes when the exam is unavailable in their language.

Most candidates search "how long is the exam" the night before they book, then discover on the day that the number they found was seat time, that the break they took cost them three questions, or that opening Microsoft Learn ran their clock down. This guide sets out the official duration for every Microsoft AI certification exam Examinotion supports, explains what seat time really includes, and gives you a pacing plan built from Microsoft's own published figures rather than forum folklore.

Exam duration vs seat time: why the two numbers differ

Microsoft publishes two different times for every exam, and confusing them is the most common timing mistake candidates make. Exam duration is the amount of time you have to answer the questions. Seat time is the total block you should set aside for the appointment, which includes reading the instructions, accepting the Microsoft Certification Exam Candidate Agreement, answering the questions, and leaving comments afterwards if you choose to [1].

The gap is a flat 20 minutes for every exam type except Microsoft Office Specialist. Microsoft's official table gives fundamentals exams 45 minutes of exam duration and 65 minutes of seat time, associate and expert exams without labs 100 minutes and 120 minutes, and associate and expert exams that may contain labs 120 minutes and 140 minutes [1]. When a booking confirmation or a colleague quotes a figure that seems 20 minutes too generous, they are quoting seat time.

Microsoft deliberately does not publish which exams contain labs. Its stated reason is that labs can be removed at any time because of Azure outages or bandwidth problems, so the presence of a lab can differ from one candidate to the next [1]. The only reliable signal is the duration itself: a 120-minute role-based exam sits in the band Microsoft assigns to exams that may include labs.

How long each Microsoft AI exam gives you

The table below lists the exam duration Microsoft states for each exam, with a link to the official exam or certification page and to the skills outline (the study guide) for each one. Two figures are marked as band inferences because Microsoft's pages for those exams do not print a duration at all.

Exam	Full name	Exam duration	Seat time	Source
AB-730	AI Business Professional	45 minutes	65 minutes	Stated by Microsoft [7]
AB-731	AI Transformation Leader	45 minutes	65 minutes	Stated by Microsoft [8]
AB-900	Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals	45 minutes	65 minutes	Stated by Microsoft [9]
AI-901	Azure AI Fundamentals	45 minutes	65 minutes	Fundamentals band; not printed on the exam page [1] [14]
AB-100	Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect	100 minutes	120 minutes	Role-based band; not printed on the exam page [1] [13]
AI-103	Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate	120 minutes	140 minutes	Stated by Microsoft [10]
AB-620	AI Agent Builder Associate	120 minutes	140 minutes	Stated by Microsoft [11]
AB-410	Intelligent Applications Builder Associate	120 minutes	140 minutes	Stated by Microsoft [12]

The exact wording Microsoft uses on the AB-730, AB-731 and AB-900 certification pages is "You will have 45 minutes to complete this assessment", and on the AI-103, AB-620 and AB-410 pages it is "You will have 120 minutes to complete this assessment" [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]. Each of those pages also warns that "You may have interactive components to complete as part of this exam", which is the closest Microsoft comes to telling you a specific exam has drag-and-drop, case study or lab items.

AB-100 and AI-901 are the two gaps in Microsoft's own documentation. Neither the exam page, the certification page nor the study guide prints a duration for either exam [13] [14]. AI-901 is a fundamentals exam, so the 45-minute fundamentals band applies. AB-100 is an expert role-based exam, and its 100-minute figure follows Microsoft's band for role-based exams without labs. Your Pearson VUE booking confirmation shows the definitive time for your sitting, so check it rather than relying on any third-party figure, including this one.

The skills outlines for each exam are published as study guides on Microsoft Learn: AB-730, AB-731, AB-900, AI-901, AB-100, AI-103, AB-620 and AB-410. The study guide tells you the domain weightings, which matter for pacing because a domain worth 40-45% of the exam will consume a similar share of your questions.

Two smaller points from the certification pages are worth knowing. AB-900 can be scheduled through Certiport as well as Pearson VUE, which is unusual among these eight exams [9]. And the older exam-page URLs for AB-620 and AB-410 currently return a 404, so the certification pages linked above are the reliable destinations [11] [12].

How many questions, and how much time per question

Microsoft does not publish a per-exam question count. Its official position is that "Most Microsoft Certification exams typically contain between 40-60 questions; however, the number can vary depending on the exam" [1]. Any site that gives you an exact count for AB-730 or AI-103 is guessing, and the number is allowed to change between sittings as Microsoft updates the exam.

The pacing maths below is Examinotion's own working from Microsoft's published ranges, not a Microsoft claim. It assumes the worst case of 60 questions.

Exam duration	Questions (worst case)	Time per question	After the 5-minute break allowance
45 minutes	60	45 seconds	40 seconds
100 minutes	60	100 seconds	95 seconds
120 minutes	60	120 seconds	115 seconds

At 40 questions the 45-minute exams give you 67 seconds per question, which feels comfortable until you meet a scenario question with a 120-word stem. The practical rule for the 45-minute exams is that you cannot afford to spend more than 90 seconds on any single question. If you are still undecided at 90 seconds, pick the best answer, mark it for review and move on.

The 120-minute exams give two minutes per question before any lab appears. Microsoft's own research says lab tasks take roughly three times longer than a traditional question, and each lab contains between 7 and 15 tasks [2]. A single 10-task lab therefore consumes the equivalent of about 30 traditional questions, which is roughly an hour of a 120-minute exam. If your exam has a lab, you should aim to reach it with at least half your time remaining.

Some questions on every exam are unscored pilot items, and you cannot tell which ones they are [3]. Microsoft's advice is to answer every question as though it counts, which also means you should not agonise over an unusually hard item on the assumption that it must be worth more. Where a question is worth more than one point, the question itself says so [3].

The introduction screen is your time budget

The single most useful pacing tool is the screen you see before the first question. Microsoft states that when you launch the exam, "you will see a screen that tells you how many items, case studies, and labs, including the number of tasks, that will be on the exam" [2]. Most candidates click through it in a hurry. Do not.

Use that screen to build a budget before you answer anything. Divide your exam duration by the number of items, reserve about three items' worth of time for each lab task, and note the time at which you must have finished the standard questions to leave enough room for any case study or lab. Microsoft's labs FAQ is blunt on this point: "At the beginning of the exam, the number of labs, case studies, and questions as well as the exam time will be provided in the introduction (read it!)" [2].

Exam time does not stop while you review your answers at the end of a section. Microsoft's FAQ states this in capitals: "Exam time does NOT stop while you are reviewing your answers. Make sure you manage your time; pay attention to the time AND number of questions remaining" [2]. Build your review time into the budget rather than treating it as free.

Breaks: allowed on every exam, but the clock keeps running

Since Microsoft introduced unscheduled breaks, you can take one during any exam except Microsoft Office Specialist exams, without requesting it in advance [1]. Five minutes have been built into every exam's duration to cover break time, and Microsoft removed questions from the exams to make room for it [1]. Because those five minutes are part of the total, they are already included in the durations in the table above.

The rule that catches candidates out is that the exam clock continues while you are on a break. Microsoft's exact wording is: "you can take as much time as you want during the break, and you can take multiple breaks; however, the exam clock will continue while you are on break. If the exam time ends while you are on break, your exam will be scored based on what you were able to complete before the exam ended" [1]. No adjustment is made if a break stops you finishing.

There is a second consequence that is even less well known. Once you launch a break, you cannot return to any question you viewed before it, even if it is unanswered or marked for review [1]. The break screen tells you how many questions you have seen, how many are unanswered and how many are marked for review before you confirm, so read it carefully. If you plan to use the review screen to revisit marked questions, take your break only after you have resolved them.

Breaks cannot be started in the middle of a lab or inside a problem-solution question set, though they can be taken before or after those sections [1]. During a break you may leave the camera's view, but you must start the break through the exam interface, and you cannot access any unauthorised material; the proctor will revoke the exam if they see you doing so [1]. The policy is the same for test centres and online proctored exams.

Case studies and labs: where the clock behaves differently

Case studies are not timed separately from the rest of the exam [2]. You can re-read the scenario as often as you like while you are working on that case study's questions, and a review screen appears when you finish the case so you can change answers before moving on. Once you leave a case study, you cannot return to its questions [2]. The number of case studies is shown on the introduction screen, so you know in advance how many of these one-way sections you will meet.

Labs work the same way but are even more final. Scoring starts in the background as soon as you leave a lab, so there is no going back [2]. Microsoft says it has "ensured that candidates who manage their time wisely will have more than enough time to complete the lab(s)", which is a polite way of saying that the time is sufficient only if you did not spend 20 minutes agonising over standard questions [2].

If your exam includes a lab, results also take longer. Most exams report a result within minutes of finishing, but exams with labs take about 30 minutes to score, and the score appears in your Microsoft Learn profile within 24 hours [3]. Beta exams, such as AB-650 at the time of writing, are not scored immediately at all.

In-exam Microsoft Learn access counts against your clock

On associate and expert exams, you can open Microsoft Learn inside the exam window. Microsoft is explicit that this is not padded with extra time: "Extra time has not been added" and "The exam timer will continue as you explore Microsoft Learn content" [1]. The feature is intended for the occasional question where you genuinely need to look something up, and Microsoft warns that if you use it for every question, "you won't be able to complete the exam in the time allotted, and that is by design" [1].

The tooling is also more limited than a normal browser session. You can reach everything on the learn.microsoft.com domain except Q&A, practice assessments and your profile, but there is no site-wide search; you can only use Ctrl+F or Command+F to find text on a page you have already opened, and closing the Learn window resets your search history [1]. Attempts to navigate to any other domain, including GitHub links inside Learn, are blocked [1].

Learn access is available on role-based exams only, not on fundamentals or Microsoft Office Specialist exams [1]. For the exams in this guide, that means AI-103, AB-620, AB-410 and AB-100 offer it and AI-901 and AB-900 do not. Microsoft has not published a ruling for AB-730 and AB-731, which are badged as Beginner level but are not titled as fundamentals exams, so read the introduction screen on the day rather than assuming either way. Our guide to using Microsoft Learn during your exam covers how to use the split-screen view efficiently.

Extra time: the 30-minute rule for non-native English speakers

Microsoft's study guides state that "If the exam isn't available in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam" [16]. The accommodations page adds the eligibility rule: the extra time is available only if you are not proficient in the language you plan to take the exam in and the exam is not offered in your preferred language [4]. Microsoft's FAQ notes that approval is decided case by case and must be requested before the exam [2].

The catch is the phrase "not available in your preferred language". If the exam is offered in your language and you choose to sit it in English anyway, you will not receive extra time [4]. That matters for Examinotion's exams because their language coverage differs sharply:

Exam	Languages offered	ESL extra time likely to apply?
AB-730, AB-731, AB-620	13 languages including French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese [7] [8] [11]	Only if your preferred language is not one of the 13
AI-103	10 languages [10]	Only if your preferred language is not one of the 10
AB-900, AB-100, AB-410	English only [9] [12] [13]	Yes, for any non-English preferred language

To request the time, you use Pearson VUE's English as a Second Language form and attach a letter from an instructor or employer, or complete Microsoft's own form, confirming you are not proficient in English [4]. A recent tightening of the evidence rules is worth knowing about: as of September 2026, Microsoft states that a Cambridge C1 Advanced certificate, a Michigan ECPE certificate or an equivalent C1 or C2 result "may indicate that English is your second language, but it does not support a need for additional exam time" [5]. A high English-proficiency certificate now works against an extra-time request rather than for it.

Other accommodations that add time

Extra time for a disability or health condition is requested through Pearson VUE's accommodations system before you schedule the exam, not after [4]. Microsoft says the process can take up to 20 days to complete and schedule, and that the disability-expert review step alone can take up to 10 business days [4]. Allow at least three to four weeks before your intended exam date.

Only two accommodations require documentation: extra time, and having another adult present in the testing area [5]. Microsoft's evidence bar is lower than many UK candidates expect. Its exact wording is "A formal diagnosis is not required to verify your need", and acceptable evidence includes proof of past accommodations, an individual education plan, a letter from a manager or teacher, or a professional evaluation [5]. If a reader or reader-recorder is approved, extra time is provided automatically alongside it [5].

Several adjustments need no request at all. Moving or fidgeting during an online exam, a drink in a transparent spill-proof container, and most medical supplies that do not connect to a phone are all permitted without an accommodation [5]. If your request is denied, there is an appeal route inside the Pearson VUE process [4].

Planning your exam day around the clock

Seat time is the number to use for your diary, and it is only part of the picture. For an online proctored exam you can check in from 30 minutes before your appointment and up to 15 minutes after it, and the check-in process itself takes about 15 minutes, sometimes longer depending on your computer [6]. A 45-minute exam therefore realistically occupies about 95 minutes of your day from the earliest check-in, and a 120-minute exam about 170 minutes. Our online proctored exam guide walks through the system test, room scan and ID checks that fill that window.

The name on your government-issued ID must exactly match the name on your Microsoft Certification profile, and a mismatch can cost you the appointment [6]. If you have not heard from a proctor within 30 minutes of checking in, Microsoft advises contacting Pearson OnVUE support by live chat because the connection may have dropped [6].

For a test centre sitting, Microsoft does not publish arrival guidance. Pearson VUE's general advice is simply to arrive early and get settled, so treat your booking confirmation email as the authority on timings [18]. Whichever route you choose, reschedule or cancel at least 24 hours before the appointment or your fee is forfeited, and Microsoft does not refund missed appointments [17] [2].

What happens when time runs out

Microsoft does not publish a general statement describing what the exam software does at the moment the timer reaches zero. What it does say, in the context of breaks, is that "your exam will be scored based on what you were able to complete before the exam ended" and that "no adjustments will be made" if you failed to finish [1]. Treat that as the rule for every scenario: whatever you have completed is what gets scored.

Because there is no penalty for guessing, an unanswered question can only ever score zero while a guess might earn the point [3]. Multi-part questions award one point per correctly answered component, so even a partial answer on a drag-and-drop or multi-select item earns something [3]. The pacing conclusion is simple: never leave a blank, and never depend on a final review sweep that the clock may not allow. Our guide to how Microsoft's 700 scaled passing score works explains why a handful of guessed points can decide the result.

A pacing plan you can rehearse

Pulling the official rules together, this is the routine we recommend for every Examinotion exam:

Read the introduction screen and write down the numbers. Items, case studies, labs and tasks. Divide your exam duration by the item count to get your per-question target.
Set two checkpoints. At one-third and two-thirds of your duration, compare questions answered against questions remaining. If you are behind at the first checkpoint, stop deliberating and commit to best answers.
Cap any single question at twice your target. On a 45-minute exam that is about 90 seconds. Mark it for review and move on.
Resolve marked questions before any break. A break locks you out of everything you have already seen.
Reach labs and case studies with time in hand. Microsoft's three-to-one figure for lab tasks means a lab can absorb half of a 120-minute exam.
Open Microsoft Learn for at most two or three questions. The timer keeps running, and the search is in-page only.
Answer everything. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, and blanks cannot score.

The reason to rehearse this rather than read it is that the 45-second rhythm of a fundamentals exam feels very different from an untimed study session. Every Examinotion practice test can be started in Timed mode, which counts down from that exam's official duration and submits automatically when the clock reaches zero, or in Practice mode, which is untimed and shows the answer and explanation after each question. Sitting two or three full-length tests in Timed mode is the most reliable way to find out whether your per-question pace holds up under a real countdown. Our guide to Microsoft exam question types shows which formats tend to eat the most time.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the AB-730 exam?

The AB-730 AI Business Professional exam gives you 45 minutes of exam duration, and Microsoft lists 65 minutes of seat time for fundamentals-length exams to cover instructions, the candidate agreement and post-exam comments. The same 45-minute duration applies to AB-731 and AB-900, and AI-901 sits in the same fundamentals band.

How long is the AI-103 exam?

Microsoft states that you will have 120 minutes to complete the AI-103 Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer exam, with seat time of 140 minutes. The 120-minute figure places AI-103 in the band Microsoft assigns to role-based exams that may contain labs, though Microsoft does not confirm which exams include one.

Can you get extra time on a Microsoft exam?

Yes, in two situations. Non-native English speakers can request an additional 30 minutes if the exam is not offered in their preferred language, with supporting evidence from an employer or instructor. Candidates with a disability or health condition can request extra time through Pearson VUE's accommodations process, which must be completed before scheduling and can take up to 20 days.

Can you take a break during a Microsoft certification exam?

Yes. Unscheduled breaks are allowed on every Microsoft exam except Microsoft Office Specialist, and five minutes have been built into each exam's duration to cover them. The clock keeps running while you are away, and once a break starts you cannot return to any question you viewed before it, even unanswered ones.

Does using Microsoft Learn during the exam stop the timer?

No. Microsoft states that extra time has not been added for Learn access and that the exam timer continues while you browse. Learn is available on associate and expert exams only, not fundamentals, and the search works only within a page you have already opened, so use it for one or two questions at most.

What happens if I run out of time on a Microsoft exam?

Microsoft scores you on what you completed before the exam ended and makes no adjustment for unfinished questions. Because there is no penalty for guessing and multi-part questions award partial credit, the best defence is to answer every question as you go rather than saving decisions for a review sweep at the end.

How many questions are on a Microsoft AI certification exam?

Microsoft does not publish a per-exam count. Its official guidance is that most certification exams contain between 40 and 60 questions and that the number can vary and change over time. Some questions are unscored pilot items, and you cannot tell which, so plan your pacing on the worst case of 60.

Conclusion

The official numbers are simple: 45 minutes for AB-730, AB-731, AB-900 and AI-901, 100 minutes for AB-100, and 120 minutes for AI-103, AB-620 and AB-410, with seat time adding 20 minutes to each. The rules around those numbers are what decide results. Breaks do not pause the clock, Microsoft Learn access does not add time, case studies and labs are one-way doors, and unanswered questions cannot score.

Build your time budget from the introduction screen, cap your time on any one question, and rehearse the pace before the day. Browse Examinotion's exam preparation courses to sit full-length practice tests for AB-730, AI-103 and every other exam in this guide in Timed mode, or start with the AB-730 study guide if you are still mapping out the domains.

Sources

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How Long Are Microsoft AI Exams? Duration, Pacing and Extra Time in 2026