Home › Certifications › CompTIA A+
540 multiple-choice questions, 250 flashcards and 16 scenario simulations, organised into 9 chapters, written to the CompTIA A+ 1200 series blueprint. Every question carries a full rationale.
CompTIA A+ 1200 series — 220-1201 (Core 1) and 220-1202 (Core 2), launched March 25, 2025; the 1100 series retired September 25, 2025. Core 1 domains: Mobile Devices 13%, Networking 23%, Hardware 25%, Virtualization and Cloud Computing 11%, Hardware and Network Troubleshooting 28%. Core 2 domains: Operating Systems 28%, Security 28%, Software Troubleshooting 23%, Operational Procedures 21%. Each exam is max 90 questions in 90 minutes with performance-based questions; Core 1 passes at 675 and Core 2 at 700 on a 100-900 scale. Valid 3 years, 20 CEUs to renew.
CoStudy's CompTIA A+ bank holds 806 items organised into 9 chapters that follow the published blueprint. Every multiple-choice question carries a written rationale explaining why the correct answer is correct and why each distractor is tempting but wrong, and the bank includes 16 scenario-based simulations.
Each chapter follows a domain of the published exam outline. Practise one on its own:
A sample of 24 multiple-choice questions from the bank, with the full rationale shown.
A tablet connects to the office wireless network and shows full signal, but no corporate email arrives while public websites load fine. Which cause is MOST likely?
Answer: A — The tablet obtained an address on the guest network segment
A) Correct — general internet access working while internal mail fails is the signature of a device sitting on an isolated guest segment with no route to internal resources. B) A slow rate would make everything sluggish rather than block one internal service. C) Channel congestion likewise degrades all traffic uniformly instead of selectively. D) Clock drift of minutes can break certificate or ticket validation in some setups, but web browsing would typically break first.
Which mobile feature allows two devices to share data by tapping them together (range ~4 cm)?
Answer: C — Near-Field Communication at about four cm
NFC works at roughly four centimeters and drives tap-to-pay, pairing and transit cards. Bluetooth reaches about ten meters, Ultra-Wideband handles precise ranging, and Wi-Fi Direct is a longer-range peer link — none matches the tap-together distance.
A newly enrolled phone is not receiving the corporate wireless settings that other enrolled phones have. Which check is MOST likely to identify the cause?
Answer: C — Whether the device is assigned to the group the profile targets
A) Storage pressure can block app installs but a small settings payload is not the usual casualty. B) An older OS can lack support for a specific payload key, but a missing assignment is far more common and should be checked first. C) Correct — management profiles deploy by group or assignment scope, so a device outside the targeted group simply never receives the payload. D) A cellular plan is not needed for a device already checking in over another connection.
A small company is planning a server that will host a structured application back end accessed by several internal applications. Which server role is being described?
Answer: B — A database server hosting structured records
A) A file server stores documents as opaque files without a query engine. B) Correct — a structured back end queried by multiple applications is the defining function of a database server. C) A print server marshals jobs to printers and holds no application records. D) A web server delivers pages and commonly sits in front of a database rather than replacing it.
A remote research station has no wired infrastructure and no cellular coverage within many kilometers. Which internet connection type is MOST appropriate?
Answer: D — Satellite service using an outdoor dish
A) Fiber requires a physical build to the premises that does not exist here. B) Subscriber line service needs telephone pairs and is distance-limited from the provider equipment. C) Cable service depends on a coaxial distribution plant that is absent at a remote station. D) Correct — satellite is the practical option where no terrestrial plant of any kind reaches the site.
An administrator wants clients to resolve names through a filtered resolver that blocks known malicious domains. Which change accomplishes this MOST directly?
Answer: D — Point the DHCP-issued resolver addresses at the filtering service
A) Endpoint agents add protection but do not by themselves change which resolver is used. B) A browser proxy file affects browsers only and leaves other applications resolving directly. C) Blocking the resolution port outright breaks name lookups entirely rather than filtering them. D) Correct — changing the resolver addresses handed out by DHCP sends every client's lookups through the filtering service with no per-device work.
An M.2 slot is keyed B+M. Which drive types can it physically accept?
Answer: C — Both SATA M.2 SSDs and some PCIe NVMe drives
B+M keyed slots accept SATA M.2 drives and some narrower PCIe NVMe drives; M-key only slots take the wider PCIe NVMe drives and B-key only slots take SATA. A and B each drop half the answer. D confuses storage keying with wireless card slots.
A design lab adds a 3D printer that builds parts by curing liquid photopolymer layer by layer. Compared with a filament-based unit, the safety guidance that MOST specifically applies is:
Answer: B — handling uncured resin with gloves and ventilating the work area
B) Correct — liquid photopolymer is a skin and respiratory irritant before curing, so gloves and ventilation are the specific controls for this technology. A) Hot bed caution applies to the filament-based process the question is contrasting against. C) Moisture-sensitive spools are also a filament concern and affect quality rather than safety. D) Nozzle clearing is filament maintenance; a resin printer has no extruder.
A conference room projector looks washed out during daytime meetings even though the source image is fine. The specification the technician should weigh MOST heavily when replacing it is:
Answer: B — the projector's brightness output relative to ambient light
B) Correct — a washed-out image in a bright room is an ambient light problem, so brightness output is the specification that must rise relative to the room. A) Throw ratio determines image size at a given distance and affects geometry, not contrast against daylight. C) Keystone correction fixes trapezoidal distortion from off-axis mounting. D) Lamp interval affects cost of ownership and gradual dimming over time, not the immediate daytime washout.
A user edits a document in a synchronized cloud folder on a laptop while offline, then opens the same file on a phone. When the laptop reconnects, the service reports a conflict. The BEST explanation is that:
Answer: B — both copies were modified independently and the service cannot merge them
B) Correct — file synchronization propagates changes between endpoints, and when two endpoints change the same file independently the service must surface a conflict rather than guess. A) Conflict reporting is a normal reconciliation outcome and does not imply corruption. C) A storage shortfall produces a sync error about capacity, not a conflicting-versions message. D) Sync services are deliberately cross-platform, so matching operating systems are not required.
Which is a primary BENEFIT of cloud computing?
Answer: D — It shifts capital spending to operating cost and scales on demand
Shifting capital expenditure to operating expenditure with on-demand scaling is the core cloud benefit. A is wrong because cloud still needs engineers. B is backwards — shared responsibility makes security planning more important. C promises an availability guarantee no provider offers.
A finance manager reviewing a cloud invoice sees line items for compute hours consumed, data transferred, and storage held per month. The cloud characteristic this billing reflects is:
Answer: C — metered utilization of the resources consumed
C) Correct — metered utilization means consumption is measured and billed by unit, which is exactly what those line items represent. A) Broad network access describes reachability from varied clients and produces no billing structure. B) Resource pooling explains how the provider shares hardware but is not what appears on the invoice. D) Self-service provisioning describes how customers obtain resources without human intervention, not how they are charged.
A BSOD shows 'PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA' that recurs at random. The BEST diagnostic step is:
Answer: C — Run a memory diagnostic such as MemTest86 on the RAM
This STOP code usually means faulty RAM or a driver touching bad memory, so a memory diagnostic isolates it cheaply. A reinstall is premature, a motherboard swap is an expensive guess, and a BIOS update is not the first diagnostic move.
A technician opens a five-year-old desktop that shuts down randomly and sees several cylindrical capacitors near the CPU socket with domed, split tops and dried residue. What is the MOST appropriate conclusion?
Answer: D — The motherboard has failed and should be replaced
D) Correct — swollen or vented capacitors indicate physical component failure on the board; the board is not economically repairable in the field and is replaced. A) Degraded paste causes thermal shutdown but does not deform capacitors. B) A dead CMOS battery causes lost time and settings, not random shutdowns or bulging caps. C) Dust causes heat retention but does not split capacitor tops.
Printouts from a laser printer show a repeating smudge at the same interval down every page. Which component should be inspected FIRST?
Answer: A — The fuser assembly and imaging drum for damage
A) Correct — a defect repeating at a fixed interval corresponds to the circumference of a rotating component such as the drum or fuser roller. B) Feed components cause skew, jams, and multi-feeds rather than periodic image marks. C) A stalled queue delays or duplicates jobs but does not stamp marks on the page. D) Driver or profile issues shift color and layout globally, not at a fixed spacing.
A Windows 11 laptop starts but fails partway through boot with a corrupted boot configuration message. The technician has recovery media. The BEST first repair action is:
Answer: A — run Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment
A) Correct — Startup Repair is the least invasive, purpose-built automated fix for boot configuration damage and preserves everything if it succeeds. B) treats a configuration problem as a hardware failure with no evidence of media faults. C) does resolve the boot loader but destroys the installation, which is disproportionate as a first step. D) requires a bootable OS, and the failure occurs before safe mode is reachable in this description.
Two users edit the same synchronized file offline and reconnect. The file-synchronization client creates a second copy labeled as a conflicted version. The BEST explanation is:
Answer: D — the client found divergent changes it could not merge
A) would produce an access-denied result rather than a preserved second copy. B) would typically surface as sync errors or re-downloads, not a labeled conflict copy. C) would block the upload outright with a size message. D) Correct — conflict copies are the standard outcome when two independent edits to one file cannot be reconciled, preserving both versions.
Which Windows tool BEST allows a technician to review a chronological history of application failures and Windows update problems on a single timeline?
Answer: A — Reliability Monitor
A) Correct — Reliability Monitor plots crashes, warnings and update events by day with a stability index. B) edits configuration data and shows no event timeline. C) manages certificate stores and has no failure history. D) administers accounts and group membership.
Which security concept describes the principle of granting users ONLY the minimum permissions needed to perform their job?
Answer: D — Least privilege
Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): users/processes get only required permissions, nothing more. Limits blast radius of compromise. Defense in depth is multi-layered defense. Zero trust verifies every request. All security best practices, but PoLP specifically addresses permission scoping.
A company deploys WPA3 Enterprise with certificate-based EAP. The MAIN advantage over a pre-shared key network is that:
Answer: C — Each user authenticates individually and can be revoked alone
C) Correct — enterprise authentication issues per-user credentials through a RADIUS server, so one departing user is revoked without rekeying every device on the network. A) Fast roaming is a separate capability and is not what enterprise authentication provides. B) Authentication method does not change data rates, which depend on the radio and channel. D) Guest access is a separate network design decision and still requires a controlled onboarding path.
An application that worked yesterday now reports a missing DLL after another program was uninstalled. Which explanation is MOST likely?
Answer: D — The uninstaller removed a shared library both programs used
D) Correct — shared libraries removed by one product's uninstaller commonly break other applications that referenced them. A) Update-induced version conflicts happen, but the timing here points squarely at the uninstall. B) Permission loss produces access denied errors rather than a missing file message. C) Quarantine is possible, yet nothing suggests a detection occurred at that moment.
A desktop blue screens intermittently. The stop codes vary and the crashes began right after a memory upgrade. Which action is the BEST first troubleshooting step?
Answer: B — Run Windows Memory Diagnostic and reseat the new modules
B) Correct — varying stop codes correlated with a hardware change point at the new memory, so testing and reseating it targets the likely cause. A) Reinstalling is drastic and ignores the obvious change that preceded the symptom. C) Video drivers cause blue screens, but they were not the change made here. D) Capturing the code is useful, yet the codes are already known to vary.
An acceptable use policy for AI tools should MOST directly address which of the following?
Answer: D — Disclosure of AI-generated content and no plagiarism
D) Correct — attribution, disclosure, and plagiarism rules are core to responsible AI use policy. A) Hardware sourcing is a procurement matter. B) Prompt length quotas are an implementation detail, not a policy principle. C) Language standards belong in development guidelines.
What is the BEST practice for ESD protection when handling internal computer components?
Answer: C — Wear a grounded anti-static strap and avoid carpet
C is right because a wrist strap holds the technician continuously at the same potential as the equipment ground, which is the only method that drains charge for the whole job. A and B both describe materials that generate static rather than dissipate it. D is backwards: motion against fabric and carpet is what creates the charge. E does equalize potential once, but the charge rebuilds as soon as you move, so it is a stopgap rather than the best practice.
6 sample cards from the 250 in the bank.
What is UAC?
User Account Control — prompts for elevation when a process needs admin rights. Reduces malware impact when users run as standard accounts.
What is zero-touch deployment, and how does it differ from traditional image deployment?
Zero-touch deployment ships a factory-sealed device to the user, who powers it on and authenticates; the device then pulls its configuration, policies, and applications from a cloud management service with no technician handling. Image deployment applies a prepared disk image to hardware over the network or from media, which requires the technician to touch each machine and to maintain the image.
What's the difference between IMEI and IMSI?
IMEI: identifies the device (handset). IMSI: identifies the subscriber on the SIM card.
Describe the grandfather-father-son backup rotation, and explain why recovery testing is required.
Grandfather-father-son keeps daily (son), weekly (father), and monthly (grandfather) sets on staggered retention, balancing restore granularity against media cost. Recovery testing is required because a backup job reporting success proves only that data was written; only an actual restore to alternate hardware proves the data is complete, readable, and recoverable within the agreed objective.
A workstation shuts down abruptly under sustained load but runs fine when idle. What is the likely cause and how is it confirmed?
Thermal shutdown from inadequate cooling. Confirm it by monitoring CPU and GPU temperatures in firmware or a utility while loading the system, then inspect for dust-clogged fins, failed fans, and dried thermal paste; a failing power supply that cannot sustain peak draw is the other candidate to rule out.
What is the purpose of an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)?
Defines acceptable employee/user activity on company resources. Sets expectations and provides legal basis for action against misuse.
These samples are a small slice. The full bank runs flashcards, multiple choice and timed mock exams with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.
The CompTIA A+ bank holds 806 items: 540 multiple-choice questions, 250 flashcards and 16 scenario-based simulations. 30 of them are on this page to read free, with no signup.
Yes. Every multiple-choice item carries a written rationale that states the controlling principle behind the correct answer and then addresses each wrong option in turn — why it tempts and precisely where it fails. Knowing why the plausible answer was wrong is worth more than knowing which letter was right.
It is organised into 9 chapters that follow the published exam blueprint: Core 1 — Mobile Devices; Core 1 — Networking; Core 1 — Hardware; Core 1 — Virtualization and Cloud Computing; Core 1 — Hardware and Network Troubleshooting; Core 2 — Operating Systems; Core 2 — Security; Core 2 — Software Troubleshooting; Core 2 — Operational Procedures. The number of questions in each chapter is proportional to that domain's published weight, so working through the bank exposes you to roughly the mix the real exam uses.
CompTIA A+ 1200 series — 220-1201 (Core 1) and 220-1202 (Core 2), launched March 25, 2025; the 1100 series retired September 25, 2025. Core 1 domains: Mobile Devices 13%, Networking 23%, Hardware 25%, Virtualization and Cloud Computing 11%, Hardware and Network Troubleshooting 28%. Core 2 domains: Operating Systems 28%, Security 28%, Software Troubleshooting 23%, Operational Procedures 21%. Each exam is max 90 questions in 90 minutes with performance-based questions; Core 1 passes at 675 and Core 2 at 700 on a 100-900 scale. Valid 3 years, 20…
The samples on this page are free to read in full, rationales included, with no account. The complete 806-item bank, the timed mock exams and per-chapter progress tracking are part of CoStudy on the web and in the iOS app.
Last reviewed 2026-08-22. Banks are written against the certifying body's published exam outline and re-checked when that outline changes — exams get renumbered, retired and reweighted, and a bank written to a superseded outline teaches the wrong proportions. Figures that are re-indexed annually are deliberately not asserted as rules; the questions test the governing principle instead.
This bank is written against CompTIA's published exam material. Check the CompTIA exam objectives for the current outline, fees and eligibility rules — those change, and the certifying body is the only authority on them. CoStudy is not affiliated with CompTIA.