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This guide covers the Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate as of October 2026, including the MS-700 exam, the four domains and their weights, the October 27, 2026 update, the format and passing score, the free annual renewal, where the certification stands now that MS-102 is retiring, and the Microsoft 365 roles it fits.
The Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate, earned through exam MS-700 (Managing Microsoft Teams), is Microsoft's role-based certification for the person who owns Teams in a Microsoft 365 tenant.
MS-700 spends little time on the Teams client itself. The questions cover the work around it, such as planning the network for voice and video, setting retention, sensitivity labels and DLP in Purview, writing Conditional Access policies in Entra ID, deciding who outside the company gets in, provisioning Teams Phone numbers and call queues, and keeping Teams Rooms running. Microsoft describes the job as working alongside the owners of identity, licensing, security, compliance, devices and networking, and the questions are written that way.
MS-700 has no formal prerequisites. Microsoft expects a working knowledge of how Teams integrates with Microsoft 365 services. It is issued and maintained by Microsoft, and the English exam moves to an updated skills outline on October 27, 2026.
Network planning, security and compliance, governance, external access, and devices. The biggest domain at 40 to 45%.
Creating and managing teams, channel types, messaging policies, and app permissions. 20 to 25%.
Meetings, webinars, town halls, and Teams Phone numbers, auto attendants, and call queues. 15 to 20%.
Call quality, usage reports, client logs, and sign-in and meeting join problems. 15 to 20%.
Four things that set the Teams Administrator apart from the other Microsoft 365 credentials in 2026.
Teams sits on top of most of Microsoft 365. SharePoint and OneDrive hold its files, Entra ID decides who gets in, Purview decides what is kept, and Teams Phone can replace the desk phone system. MS-700 is the Microsoft certification written around that whole surface for one workload, which is why it maps so cleanly to a real job title.
The heaviest domain, at 40 to 45 percent, covers network planning, Defender threat policies, Purview retention and DLP, Entra Conditional Access, guest access and B2B direct connect. Passing shows you can find your way around the Purview, Entra and Defender portals as well as the Teams admin center.
MS-900 retired on March 31, 2026, and MS-102 retires on November 30. MS-700 is not on Microsoft's retirement list, and its October 27 update is rated minor. Our rundown of the 2026 Microsoft changes covers the rest.
The Teams Administrator Associate is valid for 12 months and renews free through a short, unproctored, open-book assessment on Microsoft Learn. You can take it any time in the six months before expiry, which keeps the credential tied to how Teams works now. It is not a DoD 8140 credential and does not appear in the qualification matrix. The current matrix is published at the DoD Cyber Exchange.
Its weight comes from employers instead. Organizations that run Microsoft 365 and Teams Phone want someone who can set the policies, fix the call quality and pass the compliance review, and MS-700 is the Microsoft credential that names that person.
The certification, the MS-700 exam, and how to keep it current, as of October 2026.
MS-700 is one of four associate certifications that count toward the Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert, but Microsoft retires that credential and its exam, MS-102, on November 30, 2026, and its certification page names no successor. The three below are the next steps that remain.
The next step for voice and rooms. MS-721 goes further than MS-700 into Teams Phone, meetings, webinars and town halls, and Teams Rooms and certified devices. It suits the admin who ends up owning calling and meeting spaces for the whole organization.
The identity side of the job. A good share of MS-700 is really Entra ID work: Conditional Access, guest access, cross-tenant settings and access reviews. SC-300 takes that further into the full Microsoft Entra identity and governance stack.
The other half of the Microsoft 365 workplace. MD-102 covers deploying and managing devices with Microsoft Intune, Windows Autopilot and Defender for Endpoint, so a Teams admin who adds it can run both the collaboration layer and the machines it runs on.
MS-700 sits at the associate tier of Microsoft's role-based Microsoft 365 path. No fundamentals exam is required first, and from here the path either goes deeper into Teams voice and devices or broadens into identity, endpoints and Azure.
The Microsoft 365 groundwork
The Teams operations role
Pick your path
Two questions to answer before you commit: can you sit it, and should you pursue MS-700 specifically. Here's a straight answer to both.
No prerequisite credential required.
MS-700 has no formal prerequisites, and no fundamentals exam is required first. You register through Pearson VUE and sit it at a test center or online with a remote proctor. Microsoft writes it for someone who already understands how Teams fits into the rest of Microsoft 365.
Teams Phone does not make sense from slides.
The questions assume you have assigned policy packages, set up guest access in more than one admin center, and built an auto attendant and call queue. Practice in a trial or lab tenant while you study, and take Microsoft's free MS-700 practice assessment to see where the gaps are.
MS-700 maps to the Microsoft 365 collaboration, voice and support roles that keep Teams running for an organization.
The direct match for MS-700. Owns the Teams service in a tenant: policies, the lifecycle of teams and channels, apps, guest and external access, meetings, and calling.
Runs the wider tenant, where Teams is usually the first workload users notice when something breaks. MS-700 covers the Teams share of that job in depth, including the Entra and Purview settings it depends on.
Plans and supports Teams Phone: phone number provisioning, resource accounts, auto attendants, call queues, voice and calling policies, and the call quality reports that show when something is wrong.
Decides how teams, private and shared channels, and external collaboration work across the organization, and sets the naming, expiration and retention rules that keep it tidy without blocking people.
Deploys and manages Teams Rooms, Teams phones and other certified devices, from accounts and configuration profiles to firmware, device tags and remote sign-in.
Handles the escalated Teams tickets: client logs, cache problems, failed installs, sign-in errors, meeting join issues and poor call quality, which is the troubleshooting half of the fourth MS-700 domain.
All four are Microsoft associate certifications with the same price, length and renewal rules. What separates them is the part of the stack you work on.
| Teams Administrator (MS-700) | Communications Systems Engineer (MS-721) | Endpoint Administrator (MD-102) | Azure Administrator (AZ-104) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Microsoft | Microsoft | Microsoft | Microsoft |
| Level | Associate | Associate | Associate | Associate |
| Focus | Running Teams across Microsoft 365 | Teams Phone, meetings, rooms and devices | Devices and apps with Intune | Operating Azure environments |
| Prerequisites | None | None | None | None (rec. 6 months) |
| Exam | 4 domains, 100 min | 4 skill areas, 100 min | 5 skill areas, 100 min | 5 domains, 100 min |
| Passing Score | 700 of 1000 | 700 of 1000 | 700 of 1000 | 700 of 1000 |
| Cost | $165 | $165 | $165 | $165 |
| Validity | 1 year, free renewal | 1 year, free renewal | 1 year, free renewal | 1 year, free renewal |
| Best For | Teams and Microsoft 365 admins | Voice and meeting room engineers | Endpoint and Intune admins | Cloud administrators |
Prices are US prices as of October 2026 and vary by region and taxes. MS-700, MS-721 and MD-102 facts are from Microsoft Learn, and MS-721 and MD-102 also receive English exam updates in late October 2026. AZ-104 facts are from our Azure Administrator guide. None of these certifications appear on the DoD 8140 matrix.
Certification Matchups: the published facts, strengths and weak spots of 33 certifications, side by side.
As an authorized Microsoft training partner, our Teams Administrator boot camp covers all four MS-700 domains in four days of live, instructor-led training, in person or online. It includes official Microsoft courseware (MS-700T00), hosted Microsoft 365 lab tenants, practice questions, your $165 exam voucher, a free retake, and 180 days of instructor support after class.
Where MS-700 sits on the Microsoft map, what changed in 2026, and how to prepare for exam day.
The full Microsoft map as of September 2026, including where MS-700 and MS-721 sit for Microsoft 365 admins, what replaced MS-900, and what the MS-102 retirement means for the expert tier.
Which Microsoft exams people are actually sitting in late 2026, which ones retired this year, and whether MS-102 is still worth chasing before November 30.
From product exams to MCSA to role-based credentials, and why Microsoft is now retiring and replacing certifications faster than it used to. Useful context for planning a Microsoft 365 path.
ID rules, breaks, online proctoring and retake waits compared across vendors, including the Microsoft 24-hour and 14-day retake rules that apply to MS-700.
Microsoft publishes its exam objectives as a study guide on Microsoft Learn. How to turn the MS-700 skills list into a study plan instead of reading it once and forgetting it.
How to read a practice result by domain, and why a scaled score like the 700 Microsoft requires is not the same thing as 70 percent correct.
MCSA: Office 365 was once the default credential for collaboration admins. What happened to it, what employers expect now, and how the role-based Microsoft 365 certifications replaced it.
The MS-700 exam is organized into four domains, each carrying its own weight. Configure and manage a Teams environment is the heaviest by far, at 40 to 45 percent. Click any domain for what it covers.
The heaviest domain by a wide margin. It opens with network planning (bandwidth for voice, video, meetings and events, Teams Network planner, ports and protocols, and the Network Assessment Tool), then moves to security and compliance: Teams administrator roles, Defender for Office 365 threat policies, retention, sensitivity labels, Purview DLP, Entra Conditional Access and information barriers. It also covers governance (policy packages, update policies, Microsoft 365 group naming and expiration, archiving and restoring teams, access reviews, PowerShell and Microsoft Graph), external collaboration (external access, guest access, shared channels, B2B direct connect and multitenant organizations), and Teams devices, Teams Rooms and VDI.
Planning a rollout with Teams Advisor and creating teams from the admin center, the client, PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, an existing group or site, or a template. Then membership, roles, privacy and sensitivity settings, frontline teams, the choice between standard, private and shared channels, channel and messaging policies, and app management: org-wide app settings, app setup policies, permissions and consent, the Teams app store, and uploading apps to Teams.
Recommending the right meeting type (meetings, webinars, town halls and Appointments), configuring meeting settings including for Microsoft 365 Copilot, and building meeting templates, meeting policies, customization policies and event policies. The calling half is Teams Phone: provisioning phone numbers for users, services and conferencing bridges, voice and voicemail policies, auto attendants, call queues and calling policies.
Monitoring voice and meeting quality, configuring alert rules, and reporting on team activity, app usage, active users, per-meeting metrics, storage, team creation and deletion, and guest access. The troubleshooting half covers client-side logs, clearing the client cache, self-help diagnostics, installation, update and sign-in problems, meeting join issues, and Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI experiences in Teams.
Domains and weights reflect the Microsoft MS-700 study guide, skills measured as of October 27, 2026. Microsoft refreshes role-based exams periodically, so confirm the current outline on Microsoft Learn before scheduling.
The questions candidates ask most often when researching the Microsoft Teams Administrator certification.
The Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate, earned by passing exam MS-700 (Managing Microsoft Teams), is Microsoft's role-based certification for the people who plan, deploy, configure, and manage Teams in a Microsoft 365 organization. It covers network planning, security and compliance, governance, guest and external access, devices, teams and channels, apps, meetings, Teams Phone, and monitoring and troubleshooting.
No. As of October 2026, MS-700 is not on Microsoft's list of exams scheduled to retire in the next 12 months. Microsoft updates the English exam on October 27, 2026, and its change log rates the changes as minor, in network planning, team creation, app management, and client troubleshooting. The four domains themselves are marked unchanged. The Microsoft 365 credential that is retiring is the Administrator Expert (exam MS-102), on November 30, 2026.
No. MS-700 has no prerequisite exam or certification, so anyone can register and sit it. Microsoft writes it for candidates with a working knowledge of how Teams integrates with Microsoft 365 services, and it assumes you work with the people who own identity, licensing, security, compliance, devices, and networking. No fundamentals exam is required first.
The four domains are Configure and manage a Teams environment (40 to 45 percent), Manage teams, channels, chats, and apps (20 to 25 percent), Manage meetings and calling (15 to 20 percent), and Monitor, report on, and troubleshoot Teams (15 to 20 percent). The first domain, which covers networking, security and compliance, governance, external collaboration, and devices, carries nearly half the exam.
Microsoft doesn't publish a question count for MS-700. Its exam guidance says most Microsoft certification exams have 40 to 60 questions, and the number can vary. You get 100 minutes to answer them, with 120 minutes of seat time, and the exam may include interactive components. Microsoft's free exam sandbox shows the question types you could see, such as case studies, drag and drop, hot area, and multiple choice.
You need 700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000. It's a scaled score, so 700 doesn't mean 70 percent correct. Microsoft sets the passing line from the difficulty of the questions, there's no penalty for guessing, and some questions may be unscored, so answer every one.
The MS-700 exam costs $165 USD in the United States as of October 2026, and the price varies by country and local taxes. You schedule it through Pearson VUE, at a test center or online. Training Camp's Teams Administrator boot camp includes the exam voucher in the program fee, along with a free retake.
Only until November 30, 2026. The Teams Administrator Associate is one of four associate certifications that satisfy the prerequisite for Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert, alongside Endpoint Administrator, Identity and Access Administrator, and Information Security Administrator, and you also need to pass MS-102. Microsoft retires MS-102 and the Expert certification on November 30, 2026, after which it can't be earned or renewed, and the certification page names no successor.
No. Microsoft certifications don't appear on the DoD 8140 qualification matrix, so MS-700 on its own won't satisfy a cyber-coded position requirement. Its value is with employers that run Microsoft 365 and Teams, in the private sector and in government. See the full DoD 8140 work role paths.
The Teams Administrator Associate is valid for 12 months. You renew it free by passing a short, unproctored, open-book online assessment on Microsoft Learn. The renewal window opens six months before your expiration date, and if you don't pass you can try again right away, with a 24-hour wait between attempts after the second try. Passing extends the certification one year from its expiration date.
MS-700 maps to roles such as Teams Administrator, Microsoft 365 Administrator, Unified Communications Engineer, Collaboration Engineer, Teams Rooms and devices specialist, and Modern Workplace Support Engineer. It fits anyone whose job includes the Teams admin center, Teams Phone, or the policies that govern how people collaborate in Microsoft 365.
Start with MS-700 if you run Teams as a whole: policies, governance, guest access, apps, meetings, and the basics of calling. MS-721, the Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer Associate, goes further into Teams Phone, meetings, webinars and town halls, and Teams Rooms and certified devices. Both are $165, 100-minute associate exams that renew free every year, and neither requires the other. If calling and meeting rooms are most of your job, MS-721 is the closer match.
MS-700 is an associate-level exam, and the difficulty is breadth. The questions reach into the Teams, Microsoft 365, Entra, and SharePoint admin centers plus Purview and Defender policy, and Teams Phone brings its own vocabulary of resource accounts, auto attendants, and call queues. You can open Microsoft Learn in a split screen during the exam, but the clock keeps running, so it helps only if you already know where to look. If you manage Teams daily but have never set up calling, plan extra time for the voice and network planning material.
For anyone who runs or supports Teams, yes. It's the Microsoft certification written for that job, it renews free each year, it isn't on Microsoft's retirement list as of October 2026, and its policy content (Purview, Entra, guest access) carries over to identity and compliance work. It's a weaker fit if your work is mostly devices, where MD-102 is closer, mostly Azure infrastructure, where AZ-104 is closer, or if you wanted it mainly as a step to MS-102, which retires November 30, 2026.
Whether you're weighing the certification, planning a Microsoft 365 path, or arranging Teams training for a team, tell us where you are and we'll help you map out the right path.