Microsoft vs Yahoo Interview Questions
Microsoft lists 192 LeetCode interview questions while Yahoo lists 34. They share 22 problems — 11% of Microsoft's bank and 65% of Yahoo's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 170 Microsoft-only and 12 Yahoo-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 22 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Microsoft and Yahoo.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Microsoft-specific problems like Merge Sorted Array, Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters, Add Two Numbers and Yahoo-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
22 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Microsoft and Yahoo.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Search in Rotated Sorted Array | Medium |
| Roman to Integer | Easy |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Palindrome Number | Easy |
| Longest Common Prefix | Easy |
| Word Search | Medium |
| Find Peak Element | Medium |
| Validate Binary Search Tree | Medium |
| Combination Sum | Medium |
| Subarray Sum Equals K | Medium |
| Contains Duplicate | Easy |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Restore IP Addresses | Medium |
| Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree | Hard |
| Reverse Linked List | Easy |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Word Break | Medium |
| Maximum Depth of Binary Tree | Easy |
| Linked List Cycle | Easy |
Unique to Microsoft (170)
Problems in Microsoft's list that do not appear at Yahoo.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Single Element in a Sorted Array | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
| Reverse Nodes in k-Group | Hard |
| Merge Two Sorted Lists | Easy |
Unique to Yahoo (12)
Problems in Yahoo's list that do not appear at Microsoft.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Largest Palindrome Product | Hard |
| Matrix Cells in Distance Order | Easy |
| Non-decreasing Subsequences | Medium |
| Maximum Distance in Arrays | Medium |
| Binary Number with Alternating Bits | Easy |
| Peeking Iterator | Medium |
| Top K Frequent Elements | Medium |
| Longest Repeating Character Replacement | Medium |
| Shortest Path in Binary Matrix | Medium |
| Evaluate Division | Medium |
| Flatten Nested List Iterator | Medium |
| Decode String | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Microsoft and Yahoo share?
Microsoft and Yahoo share 22 LeetCode interview questions. 170 problems appear only in Microsoft's list and 12 appear only in Yahoo's list.
What topics overlap most between Microsoft and Yahoo?
The most common shared topics between Microsoft and Yahoo are Array (11 shared questions), Hash Table (7 shared questions), String (7 shared questions), Depth-First Search (4 shared questions), Binary Search (3 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Microsoft or Yahoo?
Microsoft has 55 Easy, 109 Medium, and 28 Hard questions. Yahoo has 11 Easy, 20 Medium, and 3 Hard questions. Microsoft has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Microsoft and Yahoo?
Start with the 22 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Microsoft-specific and 12 Yahoo-specific questions to round out your prep.