Microsoft vs PayPal Interview Questions
Microsoft lists 192 LeetCode interview questions while PayPal lists 105. They share 49 problems — 26% of Microsoft's bank and 47% of PayPal's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 143 Microsoft-only and 56 PayPal-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 49 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Microsoft and PayPal.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Microsoft-specific problems like Merge Sorted Array, Add Two Numbers, Single Element in a Sorted Array and PayPal-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: PayPal skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
49 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Microsoft and PayPal.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
| Search in Rotated Sorted Array | Medium |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Climbing Stairs | Easy |
| Container With Most Water | Medium |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Sort Colors | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Word Search | Medium |
| Minimum Edge Reversals So Every Node Is Reachable | Hard |
| Find Peak Element | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Move Zeroes | Easy |
| Jump Game | Medium |
| Find First and Last Position of Element in Sorted Array | Medium |
| Combination Sum | Medium |
| Find the Index of the First Occurrence in a String | Easy |
| First Missing Positive | Hard |
| Swap Nodes in Pairs | Medium |
| Subsets | Medium |
| Happy Number | Easy |
Showing top 30 of 49 shared problems.
Unique to Microsoft (143)
Problems in Microsoft's list that do not appear at PayPal.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Single Element in a Sorted Array | Medium |
| Reverse Nodes in k-Group | Hard |
| Merge Two Sorted Lists | Easy |
| Roman to Integer | Easy |
| Palindrome Number | Easy |
| Merge k Sorted Lists | Hard |
| Longest Common Prefix | Easy |
| Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array | Easy |
| Create Hello World Function | Easy |
| Set Matrix Zeroes | Medium |
Unique to PayPal (56)
Problems in PayPal's list that do not appear at Microsoft.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Microsoft and PayPal share?
Microsoft and PayPal share 49 LeetCode interview questions. 143 problems appear only in Microsoft's list and 56 appear only in PayPal's list.
What topics overlap most between Microsoft and PayPal?
The most common shared topics between Microsoft and PayPal are Array (22 shared questions), Two Pointers (8 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (7 shared questions), String (6 shared questions), Hash Table (5 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Microsoft or PayPal?
Microsoft has 55 Easy, 109 Medium, and 28 Hard questions. PayPal has 19 Easy, 69 Medium, and 17 Hard questions. PayPal has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Microsoft and PayPal?
Start with the 49 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Microsoft-specific and 20 PayPal-specific questions to round out your prep.