Intel vs Microsoft Interview Questions
Intel lists 25 LeetCode interview questions while Microsoft lists 192. They share 20 problems — 80% of Intel's bank and 10% of Microsoft's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 5 Intel-only and 172 Microsoft-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 20 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Intel and Microsoft.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Intel-specific problems like Find Consecutive Integers from a Data Stream, Maximum Nesting Depth of the Parentheses, Count Primes and Microsoft-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Microsoft skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
20 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Intel and Microsoft.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Copy List with Random Pointer | Medium |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock II | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Reverse Integer | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Climbing Stairs | Easy |
| Merge Two Sorted Lists | Easy |
| Reverse Words in a String | Medium |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Palindrome Number | Easy |
| Container With Most Water | Medium |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Linked List Cycle | Easy |
Unique to Intel (5)
Problems in Intel's list that do not appear at Microsoft.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Find Consecutive Integers from a Data Stream | Medium |
| Maximum Nesting Depth of the Parentheses | Easy |
| Count Primes | Medium |
| Valid Palindrome | Easy |
| Top K Frequent Words | Medium |
Unique to Microsoft (172)
Problems in Microsoft's list that do not appear at Intel.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Single Element in a Sorted Array | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
| Search in Rotated Sorted Array | Medium |
| Reverse Nodes in k-Group | Hard |
| Roman to Integer | Easy |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Merge k Sorted Lists | Hard |
| Sort Colors | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Intel and Microsoft share?
Intel and Microsoft share 20 LeetCode interview questions. 5 problems appear only in Intel's list and 172 appear only in Microsoft's list.
What topics overlap most between Intel and Microsoft?
The most common shared topics between Intel and Microsoft are Array (9 shared questions), Two Pointers (5 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (5 shared questions), Hash Table (5 shared questions), Linked List (5 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Intel or Microsoft?
Intel has 10 Easy, 14 Medium, and 1 Hard questions. Microsoft has 55 Easy, 109 Medium, and 28 Hard questions. Microsoft has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Intel and Microsoft?
Start with the 20 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 5 Intel-specific and 20 Microsoft-specific questions to round out your prep.