Microsoft Certifications
Microsoft & GitHub credentials

You don’t need the whole list.
You need the next step.

There are dozens of Microsoft credentials. Almost nobody needs to know all of them — you need to know which one is next for you. So this is a climb, not a catalogue: start where you already are, and go one rung at a time.

Start with a course, not an exam 3 levels 5 GitHub certifications
The climb

Five rungs, from “I use it” to “I design it”

Every rung is a real place to stop. You do not have to reach the top — most people find their level and stay there, and that is exactly how it is meant to work.

1

Use Copilot in your day job

There is no certification here, and that is the point. Microsoft ships official one-day courses for people who just want to get more done. No exam, no proctor — you finish and you can use the thing.

For everyone · no technical background needed
📝 MS-4018 Draft, analyze, and present with Microsoft 365 Copilot Start here · 1 day · Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams 🤖 MS-4019 Transform your everyday business processes with agents Then agents · 1 day · no code ⚙️ MS-4017 Manage and extend Microsoft 365 Copilot Intermediate · 1 day · for admins
All Copilot courses on Microsoft Learn →
2

Earn your first badge — Fundamentals

Your first real certification. One exam, no prerequisites, and it proves you understand the ground everything else is built on. Fundamentals never expire.

Career changers · students · anyone new to the platform
AB-900 Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals 45 minutes · the natural next step after the Copilot courses AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals 45 minutes · may earn ACE college credit
Every Fundamentals certification, live from Microsoft Learn →
3

Prove you can do the job — Associate

This is where a certification starts matching a job title. You are expected to have done the work, not just read about it. Associate certifications renew every 12 months, free, online.

People already working in the role
AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate Identity, storage, compute, virtual networking AZ-700 Azure Network Engineer Associate Hybrid connectivity, delivery, network security
Every Associate certification, live from Microsoft Learn →

Check before you book. Microsoft retired several well-known Azure Associate exams during 2026 — including AZ‑204 Developer, AI‑102 AI Engineer and AZ‑500 Security Engineer. Always open the certification page itself before you start studying.

5

GitHub, on its own track

GitHub certifications are separate from the Microsoft ones — different site, different registration, their own badges. There are exactly five, and Foundations is the way in.

Developers · DevOps · platform engineers
● Foundations Git basics, repositories, collaboration, GitHub products Start here ▶ Actions Workflow automation and software pipelines Automation 🛡️ Advanced Security Vulnerability identification and workflow security Security 🔧 Administration Repository management and a healthy GitHub estate Admin ✨ Copilot Prompt engineering, responsible AI, testing with Copilot AI-assisted development
What each GitHub exam covers →

A course is not a certification. MS-4018 is a one-day course — there is no exam and no badge at the end of it. AB-900 is a certification — a proctored exam that earns you a badge you can put on LinkedIn. Both are official, both are useful, and mixing them up is the single most common mistake people make when planning their year.

The six paths

Pick the one that matches your job

Each path has its own page: what you will be able to do, the one course to start with, then every course and credential in order with what you learn in each. Nothing retired appears on any of them.

By profession

Or jump straight to your job title

These go to Microsoft Learn’s own filtered list rather than a copy of it — so what you see is always current, the day you look.

Administrator You keep the platform running day to day See certifications → Developer You write and ship the code See certifications → Network engineer You connect it all together, safely See certifications → Security engineer You defend identity, data and workloads See certifications → AI engineer You build with models, agents and search See certifications → Data engineer You move, shape and serve the data See certifications → Solution architect You decide how the pieces fit See certifications → Business user You want the tools to make your day easier See courses →
Not sure yet

Let Microsoft ask you the questions

AI Skills Navigator

If none of the rungs above feel like you, start here instead. Pick the persona that fits — executive, developer, IT pro, data, security, sales, marketing, student — and it hands you a ready-made playlist of modules, paths and credentials rather than a search box.

Open AI Skills Navigator ↗ Browse all certifications ↗ Certification poster ↗