Lyft vs Microsoft Interview Questions
Lyft lists 26 LeetCode interview questions while Microsoft lists 192. They share 9 problems — 35% of Lyft's bank and 5% of Microsoft's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 17 Lyft-only and 183 Microsoft-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 9 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Lyft and Microsoft.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Lyft-specific problems like Time Based Key-Value Store, Read N Characters Given read4 II - Call Multiple Times, Max Stack and Microsoft-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Lyft skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
9 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Lyft and Microsoft.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Rotting Oranges | Medium |
| Minimum Window Substring | Hard |
| Convert Sorted List to Binary Search Tree | Medium |
| Min Stack | Medium |
| Longest Consecutive Sequence | Medium |
| Decode Ways | Medium |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Product of Array Except Self | Medium |
Unique to Lyft (17)
Problems in Lyft's list that do not appear at Microsoft.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Time Based Key-Value Store | Medium |
| Read N Characters Given read4 II - Call Multiple Times | Hard |
| Max Stack | Hard |
| Check Completeness of a Binary Tree | Medium |
| Car Pooling | Medium |
| String Compression | Medium |
| Smallest Range Covering Elements from K Lists | Hard |
| Range Sum Query 2D - Immutable | Medium |
| Word Ladder II | Hard |
| Water and Jug Problem | Medium |
| Implement Trie (Prefix Tree) | Medium |
| Sort List | Medium |
Unique to Microsoft (183)
Problems in Microsoft's list that do not appear at Lyft.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Single Element in a Sorted Array | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Lyft and Microsoft share?
Lyft and Microsoft share 9 LeetCode interview questions. 17 problems appear only in Lyft's list and 183 appear only in Microsoft's list.
What topics overlap most between Lyft and Microsoft?
The most common shared topics between Lyft and Microsoft are Array (4 shared questions), Hash Table (3 shared questions), String (3 shared questions), Sliding Window (2 shared questions), Prefix Sum (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Lyft or Microsoft?
Lyft has 0 Easy, 19 Medium, and 7 Hard questions. Microsoft has 55 Easy, 109 Medium, and 28 Hard questions. Lyft has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Lyft and Microsoft?
Start with the 9 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 17 Lyft-specific and 20 Microsoft-specific questions to round out your prep.