The MS-900 retirement has officially been delayed. Microsoft has moved the retirement date to March 31, 2026, giving learners, organizations, and Microsoft partners more time to complete the exam.

In this video, I cover:
Why the MS-900 retirement was extended
How the new AB-900 exam fits into the timeline
Why MB-910 and MB-920 are still retiring this year
Whether you should still take the MS-900 in 2025

The MS-900 is a fundamentals exam; it never expires, and it will always stay on your transcript — so if you planned to take it, this extension makes it the perfect time.

Want help preparing? Check out my MS-900 course on Pluralsight

Video SummaryGreat news for MS-900 takers! Microsoft has extended the retirement date of the MS-900 exam to March 31, 2026, giving you extra time to get certified.This extension only applies to MS-900—the MB-910 and MB-920 Dynamics 365 exams are still retiring as planned at the end of this year.Why the delay? Likely because the new AB-900 exam, focused on Microsoft Copilot fundamentals, just entered beta on November 14, 2025, and Microsoft needs time to align partner requirements.MS-900 still matters! It’s a fundamentals exam that never expires and helps organizations maintain their Microsoft Partner designation—so it’s worth taking if you haven’t yet.Want to pass on the first try? Check out my Pluralsight courses (links in the description) and keep an eye out for Black Friday deals to grab them at a discount!

For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!

Transcript

If you’ve been stressing about the retirement of the MS-900 exam at the end of the year, I have good news for you—Microsoft just pushed the retirement date to 2026. So, if you wanted to get MS-900 certified but had no idea it was going to retire, it’s even more important that you pay attention to this update.

To recap, not that long ago, Microsoft announced that it would retire the MS-900 exam alongside the MB-910 and MB-920 by the end of the year. If you missed that announcement, you should have followed my channel because I did a dedicated video about it. But just a few days ago, Microsoft extended the MS-900 retirement date to March 31, 2026. This gives us a little more than four months from when I’m recording this video to get your certification. However, this extension only applies to the MS-900—it does not apply to the MB-910 or MB-920, which are the Dynamics 365 exams.

Now, you might wonder why the retirement was delayed. Usually, when Microsoft announces these things, its decision is final. At the end of the day, only Microsoft knows why, but I believe it has to do with the AB-900 exam, which is the exam that replaces MS-900. If you don’t know what AB-900 is, it’s part of the three new certifications Microsoft has released for Microsoft Copilot. I’ll have a link in the description for you to learn more about it. In short, AB-900 is the exam that’s replacing MS-900. This exam went into beta on November 14, 2025, so it’s brand new. In the usual post where Liberty talks about the beta and how long you have to take it, we know that the beta will run until at least January 3, 2026—a few days after MS-900 was originally scheduled to retire.

Some of you might think it’s not the end of the world if the two exams don’t overlap, but for some divisions at Microsoft, it kind of is. Outside of Microsoft Learn, we have another big organization—the Microsoft Partner Network. The MS-900 is one of the exams that help an organization become a Microsoft partner. I’m not an expert in the partner program—that requires a separate PhD—but to attain the Modern Work Solutions designation, you need to pass a series of exams, and MS-900 is one of them. If the exams didn’t overlap, the Microsoft Partner team wouldn’t have time to update requirements, and partners wouldn’t have time to get the new certification before losing their designation. So, in my opinion, they needed more time to update the list and let people take the new exam before MS-900 retires.

Of course, this is good news for everyone—there’s nothing negative here. I’m happy to share only good news for once, even if we’re talking about retirement. The bad news was in the previous video, when MS-900 was scheduled to retire sooner. For this one, let’s focus on the positive: if you wanted to take MS-900, remember it’s a fundamentals exam that never expires. It will always show up on your transcript. So, if you were hesitating because of the deadline, this is your chance to take it.

Also, as a shameless self-promotion, if you want to pass on the first try, make sure you check out my courses on Pluralsight—I’ll have a link in the description below. With Black Friday and December coming up, I’m sure there will be plenty of sales, so you can access these courses at a great price. I’ll make a dedicated video about that closer to Black Friday, but I can’t share details yet. Check the link in the description below. And on the screen right now, you’ll find a video that talks about the upcoming Microsoft 365 Copilot certification. So, if you don’t care about MS-900 because it’s retiring, that video will cover your next certification.