About This Study Plan
This 7-day study plan breaks the MS-102 (Microsoft 365 Administrator) exam preparation into 7 focused study sessions with a total of 28 actionable tasks. The plan covers all 4 exam domains — Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant, Implement and manage Microsoft Entra identity and access, Manage security and threats by using Microsoft Defender XDR, Manage compliance by using Microsoft Purview — ensuring complete coverage of the exam blueprint. Intensive 7-day review for the Microsoft 365 Administrator (MS-102) exam covering tenant management, identity, security, and compliance.
Prerequisites
- Microsoft 365 admin center experience
- 4–6 hours per day
Study Schedule
- Microsoft 365 tenant setup: domains, DNS, and custom settings
- Microsoft 365 admin center navigation and service health
- Organizational settings: themes, release preferences, add-ins
- Licensing management and subscription options
- Entra ID (Azure AD): users, groups, and directory sync
- Entra Connect and Cloud Sync configuration
- Authentication methods: MFA, passwordless, and SSPR
- Conditional Access policies: assignments, conditions, and controls
- Microsoft Defender XDR: incidents, alerts, and advanced hunting
- Defender for Office 365: Safe Attachments, Safe Links, anti-phishing
- Defender for Endpoint: onboarding, policies, and threat detection
- Secure Score and security recommendations
- Sensitivity labels: creation, publishing, and auto-labeling
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP): policies, conditions, and actions
- Retention policies and retention labels
- eDiscovery: content search, cases, and legal holds
- Identity + Security: Conditional Access + risk-based policies
- Compliance + Security: DLP + Defender alerts integration
- Hybrid identity scenarios and troubleshooting sync
- Governance: access reviews, PIM, and entitlement management
- Take a full timed practice exam
- Review all incorrect answers by domain
- Focus on Conditional Access and DLP scenarios
- Review Defender XDR incident response
- Conditional Access decision flowchart
- Defender product comparison table
- Purview feature map
- Rest before exam
Study Tips
Conditional Access is the most heavily tested area — know conditions and controls deeply.
Understand the difference between Defender for Office 365, Endpoint, and Identity.
Know when to use retention policies vs retention labels.
Recommended Microsoft 365 Study Resources
Supplement this study plan with Microsoft Learn's free MS-102 learning path, which provides interactive modules and sandboxed Microsoft 365 environments. The Microsoft Virtual Training Days programme also offers free instructor-led sessions with a 50% exam discount voucher upon completion.
Ready to Practice?
Put your study plan into action with Microsoft 365 Administrator practice questions.