Microsoft Learn free certification: what you actually get
Microsoft's FAQ says its Learn training is free and open to anyone. It does not say that finishing a course earns a certificate, and for the learning paths and modules listed on this page it does not. Read the next three sections before you count on a credential.
Trophies and achievements are not certificates
Finish a learning path while signed in and Microsoft grants a trophy on your Learn profile, which you can share on social media. Finish a single module and you get an achievement. The one module listed here, Work smarter in Excel with Copilot Chat, also offers an optional assessment that gives a pass designation on your profile. None of these is a verified credential, which is why our records show no certificate.
Certification exams are paid and not listed
Several listed paths prepare you for a Microsoft certification exam: cloud concepts for AZ-900, core data concepts for DP-900, security concepts for SC-900, Power Platform for PL-900, Power BI for PL-300, and GitHub Foundations for its own exam. The exams are paid products booked through Microsoft's testing partners, so they are not listed on this site and we do not quote a price. The path is free; the exam is a separate purchase.
Microsoft free online courses with certificates: where to look
Microsoft's Applied Skills credentials, described in the introduction above, are lab-based assessments rather than courses, and none is listed on this page at present. For a free Microsoft credential, check the free Microsoft certifications page; for other providers, free online courses with certificates states the certificate cost on every entry.
How to start a Microsoft Learn learning path
There is no enrolment and no payment step:
- Open the course from our listing; you can read every module without creating a profile.
- Sign in with a Microsoft profile only if you want progress tracking, points and the trophy at the end.
- Read the modules in order. Each is a set of short text units with a knowledge check near the end.
- For hands-on exercises, set up the tool first: Microsoft's free sandboxes have been retired, so Azure exercises expect an Azure subscription of your own.
What you can study: Microsoft free online courses by subject
All listed paths are self-paced, in English and marked beginner, apart from GitHub Foundations, which Microsoft tags both beginner and intermediate. Durations are Microsoft's catalog minutes converted to hours.
Azure and cloud fundamentals
Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure: Describe cloud concepts opens the AZ-900 series and takes under an hour: three modules on what cloud computing is, why organisations use it and the cloud service types. Its two follow-on paths are not listed here. See the IT hub for more.
AI and Microsoft Copilot
AI Fluency is a seven-module plain-language path of 4.6 hours covering AI basics, generative AI, responsible AI and getting started with Copilot; no code is involved. Draft, analyze, and present with Microsoft Copilot is 4.3 hours of prompts for Copilot in Word, PowerPoint, Teams, Excel and Outlook. Work smarter in Excel with Copilot Chat is a 24 minutes module on generating formulas and summarising data; it is about Copilot rather than Excel itself, so for spreadsheet skills use the Excel hub.
Data, Power BI and SQL
Introduction to Microsoft Azure Data core data concepts is an hour on data formats, workloads, roles and Microsoft's data services. Prepare and visualize data with Microsoft Power BI is the longest listed path at 8.2 hours: getting data in, Power Query, semantic models and report design. Query and modify data with Transact-SQL runs 5.8 hours from SELECT to joins, subqueries, GROUP BY and modifying rows. More under data science.
Security and identity
Introduction to security, compliance, and identity concepts is the first SC-900 path, 1.6 hours across two modules: shared responsibility, defence in depth, Zero Trust and compliance, then authentication, authorisation and identity as a security perimeter. The companion paths on Microsoft Entra, security solutions and Purview are not listed. Related hub: cyber security.
Programming: Python and GitHub
Get Started with Python Programming: Part 1 - Fundamentals is 3.2 hours over four modules: first program, data types, installing Visual Studio Code and if/else logic. GitHub Foundations Part 1 of 2 is 6.7 hours over eight modules on Git, repositories, pull requests, code scanning, Copilot, Codespaces, Projects and Markdown. Part 2 of each series exists on Microsoft Learn but is not listed here. Hubs: Python and programming.
Power Platform and low-code
Explore the fundamentals of Microsoft Power Platform is the PL-900 preparation path, 5.7 hours over six modules on Dataverse, governance, Power Apps, Power Automate and Copilot Studio agents. Following the described tasks needs a Power Platform environment, which is not included. It sits in the business hub.
Do you need an Azure subscription to follow the exercises?
Not to read any of the listed paths. Microsoft's FAQ says its training sandboxes are no longer available, so exercises in Azure modules expect an Azure subscription. The core data and security concepts paths need nothing because they have no hands-on exercises. Python and GitHub need free tools: a local install of Python and Visual Studio Code, or a GitHub account. Power BI needs Power BI Desktop on Windows; the Transact-SQL exercises need a SQL Server or Azure SQL database of your own.