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A plain guide to the Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals certification as of October 2026. It covers the AB-900 exam, the three domains and their weights, the 45-minute format and passing score, the $99 fee, why it never expires, what happened to MS-900, DoD 8140 status, and the roles it fits.
The Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals certification, earned through exam AB-900, is Microsoft's entry-level credential for supporting, securing, and protecting an AI-enabled Microsoft 365 environment. It covers the core Microsoft 365 services, the data protection and governance controls around them, and the basic administration of Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents.
AB-900 is a fundamentals exam with a task list behind it. The objectives use verbs like assign, monitor, create, and run: assign Copilot licenses, create an agent, run a data access governance report in SharePoint, review audit logs for user and admin activity. Next to those tasks sit the concepts that decide whether a Copilot rollout is safe, such as how Copilot reaches data through Microsoft Graph and how permissions and controls in Microsoft 365, Purview, and Defender shape what it can return.
There are no prerequisites. Microsoft expects familiarity with the admin centers for Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, Microsoft Entra, and Microsoft Purview, but it does not enforce that. Microsoft announced the certification on November 13, 2025, with AB-900 in beta, and the skills-measured outline was last updated on October 14, 2026. The older Microsoft 365 Fundamentals exam, MS-900, retired on March 31, 2026.
Licenses, the Microsoft 365, Exchange, SharePoint, and Teams admin centers, Zero Trust, Defender XDR, Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, SSO, PIM, and sign-in troubleshooting. 30 to 35%.
Microsoft Purview, sensitivity labels, DLP, retention, how Copilot accesses data, responsible AI, and finding oversharing in SharePoint. The largest domain at 35 to 40%.
Copilot licensing and pay-as-you-go billing, Researcher and Analyst, usage and adoption reporting, prompts, and creating, approving, and monitoring agents. 25 to 30%.
Four things that make AB-900 the first Microsoft 365 credential to look at in 2026.
Microsoft built this credential for the people who support and protect an AI-enabled Microsoft 365 environment. Copilot only surfaces organizational data a user already has permission to view, so the exam spends more time on permissions, Purview, and oversharing than on prompts. It sits below Microsoft's associate-level Copilot and agent credentials, such as AB-620 and AB-650.
Assign Copilot licenses, create an agent, run a data access governance report, review audit logs. You still learn the vocabulary, but the objectives expect you to know where each setting lives across the Microsoft 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, Entra, Purview, and Power Platform admin tools.
A $99 fee, 45 minutes of exam time, and a credential that never expires or asks for a renewal assessment. Our rundown of the most popular Microsoft certifications in 2026 shows where it sits among this year's changes.
AB-900 is not a DoD 8140 credential and does not appear in the Approved Qualifications Matrix V2.1, which lists no Microsoft certifications at all. The current matrix is published at the DoD Cyber Exchange.
Its weight comes from the market instead. Organizations paying for Copilot licenses need people who can control what it can reach and track whether anyone uses it. And with MS-900 retired, AB-900 is the only fundamentals certification Microsoft offers under the Microsoft 365 Certified name.
The certification and the AB-900 exam in two lists, current as of October 2026.
AB-900 is the bottom rung by design. From here, most people either start building agents, move up to Microsoft 365 administration, or go deeper on security and compliance. The three below are the common next steps.
The move from administering agents to building them. AB-620 covers planning and configuring agent solutions in Copilot Studio, integrating and extending them with connectors, MCP, REST APIs, and Microsoft Foundry, and testing and managing what you ship. It is a 120-minute associate exam at $165, and our Copilot and AI Agents Boot Camp teaches it alongside AB-900.
The administration track. AB-650 is a new associate exam, still in beta as of October 2026, for configuring, securing, and governing Microsoft 365 tenants, workloads, and AI services, Copilot and agents included. Governance and security carry the most weight at 40 to 45 percent. Note that MS-102, the exam behind the Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert, retires on November 30, 2026.
The sideways move for anyone drawn to the Purview half of AB-900. SC-900 is another $99, 45-minute fundamentals exam that never expires, and it goes wider on Microsoft Entra, Microsoft's security solutions, and Purview compliance. SC-401, the Information Security Administrator Associate exam, is where Purview becomes the whole job. See our SC-900 guide.
AB-900 sits at the fundamentals tier of Microsoft's Microsoft 365, Copilot, and agent path. From here the path splits between building agents and administering Microsoft 365 and AI services, then branches into architecture, identity, and information security.
The Microsoft 365 and Copilot groundwork
Hands-on role-based exams
Pick your path
Two questions to answer before you commit: can you sit it, and should you spend the time on AB-900 rather than a different Microsoft exam. Here's a straight answer to both.
No prerequisites of any kind.
There is no prerequisite credential, no experience requirement, and no application. You register through Pearson VUE, for a test center or an online proctored session, or through Certiport if you are a student or educator. Microsoft recommends registering with a personal Microsoft account, because exam records tied to a work or school account are lost if you leave that organization. If you fail a first attempt, you can retake it after 24 hours.
Easy questions, a lot of named products.
Many AB-900 objectives ask you to identify the right tool for a task, and reading alone makes Activity Explorer, Content search, and Data Explorer blur together. Time in the Microsoft 365 admin center, the Purview portal, and the Copilot settings, ideally in a test tenant, makes them concrete. Microsoft's free practice assessment then shows you which domain still needs work. Microsoft also notes the exam can include preview features if they are commonly used.
AB-900 is an entry credential, so it supports a role rather than filling a senior seat on its own. These are the jobs where its objectives map most closely to the daily work.
The most direct fit. Junior admins manage users, licenses, groups, and the Exchange, SharePoint, and Teams admin centers every day, and AB-900 covers each of those objects plus the Copilot license and billing work that now lands on the same desk.
The person who owns Copilot inside a Microsoft 365 tenant. The job is assigning licenses, deciding which features to turn on, watching usage and adoption, and managing agent access and approvals, which is the third AB-900 domain almost line for line.
Help desk and desktop support teams handle sign-in failures, MFA prompts, and access requests. AB-900 covers troubleshooting sign-ins with MFA, Conditional Access, and risky sign-in data, and it explains why a user can or cannot see a file through Copilot.
Analysts who work in Microsoft Purview. The largest AB-900 domain covers sensitivity labels, DLP alerts, retention, Insider Risk Management, eDiscovery search, and the SharePoint oversharing reports that decide what Copilot can surface.
Business analysts and makers who create agents for their teams. AB-900 covers creating an agent and the access and approval rules around it, and AB-620 is the credential that takes agent building further.
Managers running a Copilot rollout who need to compare the monthly license with pay-as-you-go billing, read Copilot Analytics, and talk with security teams about oversharing. AB-900 gives them the vocabulary and the reports to do that.
Three certifications that come up next to AB-900: the retired Microsoft 365 Fundamentals exam, the Microsoft security fundamentals sibling, and the agent-building associate exam it is often taught with. Here's how they line up.
| Copilot and Agent Admin Fundamentals (AB-900) | Microsoft 365 Fundamentals (MS-900) | SC-900 Security Fundamentals | AI Agent Builder Associate (AB-620) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Microsoft | Microsoft | Microsoft | Microsoft |
| Level | Fundamentals | Fundamentals | Fundamentals | Associate |
| Status | Live | Retired March 31, 2026 | Live | Live |
| Focus | Microsoft 365, data protection, and Copilot and agent administration basics | Microsoft 365 apps, cloud concepts, security, and licensing | Microsoft security, compliance, and identity basics | Building and integrating agents in Copilot Studio |
| Exam | Count not published, 45 min | 45 min (no longer offered) | 45 min | Count not published, 120 min |
| Passing Score | 700 of 1000 | 700 of 1000 | 700 of 1000 | 700 of 1000 |
| Cost | $99 | Was $99 | $99 | $165 |
| Validity | Does not expire | Does not expire (stays on the transcript) | Does not expire | 1 year, free renewal |
| Best For | Microsoft 365 support and admin staff starting on Copilot | Existing holders only | Beginners heading into security | Makers and developers building agents |
Pricing is US list as of October 2026 and varies by country and taxes. None of these Microsoft certifications appear on the DoD 8140 Matrix, so their recognition is market-driven. Microsoft fundamentals certifications do not expire, while associate certifications such as AB-620 renew free each year. MS-900 details come from its retired Microsoft Learn study guide, which weighted Microsoft 365 apps and services at 45 to 50 percent. For the full SC-900 picture, see our Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals guide.
Certification Matchups: the published facts, strengths and weak spots of 33 certifications, side by side.
As a Microsoft authorized training partner, our Copilot and AI Agents Boot Camp covers both AB-900 and AB-620 in four days of live, instructor-led training, in person or online. AB-900 comes first, on day one. Official Microsoft Courseware, hosted Microsoft 365 tenants for the labs, practice questions, vouchers for both exams, and a free retake are included.
How the 2026 Microsoft changes reshaped the fundamentals tier, where AB-900 fits among Microsoft's certifications, and how to read the study guide that defines the exam.
The full Microsoft map for 2026, from the fundamentals tier where AB-900 sits through the associate and expert levels, including the Microsoft 365 changes, the MS-102 retirement, and the new AB-series credentials.
Which Microsoft exams people are sitting and training managers are budgeting for in 2026, plus a rundown of this year's exam changes, including the MS-900 retirement and where AB-900 fits.
From product exams to MCSA and MCSE to role-based credentials, and why Microsoft is now rebuilding those roles around Copilot, agents, and Microsoft Foundry.
The 2026 retirement wave in one table, with each retiring Microsoft exam and its date, including MS-900 on March 31, plus what the move to SC-500 means for anyone who held or was studying for AZ-500.
For readers weighing the Azure side instead. When the Azure Fundamentals exam is worth the $99, when to skip it, and why Microsoft fundamentals certifications, AB-900 included, never expire.
How to read the official outline for any exam, including the Microsoft Learn study guide format with weighted skill areas and a change log, which is how the AB-900 outline is published.
The six Azure Copilot agents Microsoft announced at Ignite 2025, what each one does for cloud operations, and how they work within RBAC and compliance guardrails.
The AB-900 exam is organized into three domains, each carrying its own weight. Data protection and governance is the heaviest at 35 to 40 percent, and it is where most of the named Microsoft Purview tools live. Click any domain for what it covers.
The Microsoft 365 groundwork. It starts with how license types assigned to users and groups affect access, then the objects you configure in each admin center: domain names and org settings in the Microsoft 365 admin center, mailboxes and distribution groups in Exchange, sites, libraries, folders, and site permissions in SharePoint, and teams, channels, and policies in Teams. The security half covers Zero Trust, authentication and authorization, Defender XDR, Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, SSO, Identity Secure Score, Privileged Identity Management, app registrations and enterprise applications, troubleshooting sign-in issues with MFA, Conditional Access, and risky sign-ins, and reviewing audit logs for user and admin activity.
The heaviest domain. It covers Microsoft Purview Information Protection, Data Loss Prevention, Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, DSPM for AI, and Data Lifecycle Management, along with sensitivity labels, data classification, and retention. Then it turns to Copilot itself: how Copilot accesses data, how Microsoft Graph shapes its responses, how permissions and controls in Microsoft 365, Purview, and Defender protect against risk, and the responsible AI principles. The last part is spotting risk with Compliance Manager, Data Explorer, Activity Explorer, DLP alerts, Communication Compliance, Content search in eDiscovery, and the SharePoint oversharing tools, including the data access governance report and SharePoint Advanced Management.
The Copilot admin work. You compare the built-in capabilities of Copilot and agents, the monthly Copilot license against pay-as-you-go billing, and which Copilot features can be turned on or off, and you identify use cases for Researcher, Analyst, and custom agents. The tasks include assigning Copilot licenses, managing pay-as-you-go billing policies, tracking usage and adoption with Copilot Analytics and the Microsoft 365 admin center, and saving, sharing, scheduling, and deleting prompts. For agents, you configure user access, create an agent, follow the approval process, and monitor usage, operational insights, and the agent lifecycle in the Microsoft 365 admin center and the Power Platform admin center.
Domains and weights reflect the Microsoft AB-900 study guide, skills measured as of October 14, 2026. Its change log shows a minor change to the core security features objectives. Most questions cover generally available features, but Microsoft notes that commonly used preview features can appear. Microsoft refreshes exams periodically, so confirm the current outline on Microsoft Learn before scheduling.
The questions candidates ask most often when researching the Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals certification.
The Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals certification, earned by passing exam AB-900, is Microsoft's entry-level credential for supporting an AI-enabled Microsoft 365 environment. It tests the core Microsoft 365 services and security features, data protection and governance with Microsoft Purview, and basic administration of Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents. As a fundamentals exam, it's aimed at people early in Microsoft 365 administration.
The current outline is the skills-measured version dated October 14, 2026. Microsoft's change log shows a minor change to the core security features objectives in the first domain. The exam still has three domains: Microsoft 365 core features and objects, data protection and governance, and Copilot and agent administration.
Microsoft hasn't called it a replacement. It retired MS-900 and the Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals certification on March 31, 2026, and the two exams cover different ground. MS-900 focused on Microsoft 365 apps, cloud concepts, and licensing. AB-900 adds Copilot and agent administration and gives data protection the most weight. With MS-900 gone, AB-900 is the only fundamentals certification under the Microsoft 365 Certified name, and anyone who already earned MS-900 keeps it on their transcript.
No. There's no prerequisite certification and no experience requirement you have to prove. Microsoft does say candidates should be familiar with the admin centers for Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, Microsoft Entra, and Microsoft Purview, and have experience with AI-driven productivity tools. Treat that list as your study plan.
The three domains are Identify the core features and objects of Microsoft 365 services (30 to 35 percent), Understand data protection and governance tasks for Microsoft 365 and Copilot (35 to 40 percent), and Perform basic administrative tasks for Copilot and agents (25 to 30 percent). Data protection and governance is the largest, which is worth knowing if you expect a Copilot exam to be mostly about Copilot.
Microsoft doesn't publish a question count for AB-900. Its general guidance is that most certification exams have 40 to 60 questions, and the number varies by exam. You get 45 minutes of exam time and should plan for about 65 minutes in the seat, which covers the instructions and the candidate agreement.
You need 700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000. Microsoft uses scaled scoring, so 700 doesn't mean 70 percent of questions correct. The passing line reflects the difficulty of the question set you get, which is why Microsoft doesn't report a simple percentage.
As of October 2026, the AB-900 exam costs $99 USD in the United States, and the price varies by country. You book it through Pearson VUE, at a test center or online, or through Certiport if you're a student or educator. Training Camp's Copilot and AI Agents Boot Camp includes the AB-900 voucher, plus the AB-620 voucher, in the program fee.
No. Microsoft certifications don't appear on the DoD 8140 Approved Qualifications Matrix V2.1, so AB-900 won't satisfy a cyber-coded position requirement on its own. Its value is practical instead: organizations rolling out Copilot need people who can manage the licenses, permissions, and data protection around it. See the full DoD 8140 work role paths.
No. AB-900 leads to a fundamentals certification, and Microsoft fundamentals certifications don't expire and have no renewal assessment. Microsoft's associate, expert, and specialty certifications are different. They expire each year and renew through a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn, which matters if you go on to AB-620, an associate credential.
AB-900 fits entry-level and early-career Microsoft 365 roles: junior Microsoft 365 administrator, Copilot administrator, IT support specialist, compliance or data governance analyst, Copilot Studio maker, and IT managers or adoption leads running a Copilot rollout. For more senior administration or building work, an associate certification such as AB-650 or AB-620 is the usual next step.
It depends on which Microsoft cloud you work in. AB-900 covers Microsoft 365: the admin centers, Entra, Purview, Copilot, and agents. AZ-900 covers Azure: cloud concepts, Azure services, and Azure cost and governance. Both are $99, 45-minute fundamentals exams that never expire, and neither is a prerequisite for the other. If your job is supporting users and Copilot in Microsoft 365, start with AB-900.
AB-900 is a fundamentals exam, so no single question goes deep, but the outline is wide. It names more than a dozen Purview, Entra, and SharePoint tools and expects you to know which one fits a task, such as Activity Explorer versus Content search, or Insider Risk Management versus Communication Compliance. Candidates who have used the admin centers tend to find it easier than those who've only read about them. Microsoft's free practice assessment on Microsoft Learn is a good readiness check.
For anyone who supports or administers Microsoft 365 where Copilot is licensed or on the way, yes. It's a $99, 45-minute exam that never expires, and it covers the work a Copilot rollout creates: licensing, permissions, oversharing, and data protection. The case is weaker if you don't work in Microsoft 365, or if you already administer Microsoft 365 at a senior level and would get more from an associate exam.
Deciding between AB-900 and AZ-900, planning the step up to AB-620, or arranging Copilot training for a team: tell us where you are and we'll help you map out the right next step.