MOS Excel exam: what Associate and Expert cover
The Microsoft Office Specialist exams for Excel follow a published skills outline. Here is what each domain asks for, and where you can practice the formula and data parts with real exercises.
LearnThisNext is not affiliated with Microsoft or Certiport and is not an official MOS prep provider. This page summarizes Microsoft's public skills outlines. Always check the current outline on Microsoft Learn before you book, because Microsoft can update it.
The MOS Excel exams in brief
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) is Microsoft's certification for Office apps. For Excel there are two levels, each with a version for Microsoft 365 Apps and one for Office 2019:
| Certification | Microsoft 365 Apps | Office 2019 | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel Associate | MO-210 | MO-200 | intermediate |
| Excel Expert | MO-211 | MO-201 | advanced |
According to Microsoft, each exam is proctored and lasts 50 minutes, may include interactive tasks, and is priced by the country where you sit it. Students and educators schedule through Certiport. Microsoft suggests roughly 150 hours of instruction and hands-on work before the exam. The domains and weights below come from the Microsoft 365 Apps outlines for MO-210 and MO-211.
MO-210 Excel Associate by domain
| Domain (weight) | What it includes | Practice here |
|---|---|---|
| Manage worksheets and workbooks (25 to 30 %) | importing text and online data, navigating, page setup, headers and footers, freezing panes, views, print areas, exporting, comments and notes | mostly interface tasks we do not cover; for fast navigation see keyboard shortcuts |
| Manage data cells and ranges (25 to 30 %) | Paste Special, Auto Fill, inserting rows and cells, RANDBETWEEN and SEQUENCE, cell formatting, named ranges, Sparklines, built-in conditional formatting | conditional formatting, filling formulas with absolute references |
| Manage tables and table data (10 to 15 %) | creating and styling tables, total rows, filtering records, sorting by several columns | Excel tables, sort and filter |
| Perform operations with formulas and functions (15 to 20 %) | relative, absolute, mixed and structured references; SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX; COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK; IF; SORT and UNIQUE; LEFT, RIGHT, MID, UPPER, LOWER, LEN, CONCAT, TEXTJOIN | references, SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT and COUNTA, IF, SORT and UNIQUE, text functions, MID, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN |
| Manage charts (15 to 20 %) | creating charts and chart sheets, adding series, switching rows and columns, chart elements, layouts, styles, alt text | charts (choosing type and data) |
The formula domain is the smallest by weight, but it is also where many people lose time, because a wrong reference only shows up once you fill a formula down. The interface tasks are easier to learn by clicking through the ribbon in your own copy of Excel.
MO-211 Excel Expert by domain
| Domain (weight) | What it includes | Practice here |
|---|---|---|
| Manage workbook options and settings (10 to 15 %) | copying and enabling macros, linking to other workbooks, versions, restricting editing, protecting sheets and workbook structure, calculation options | not covered |
| Manage and format data (30 to 35 %) | Flash Fill, advanced Fill Series, RANDARRAY, custom number formats, data validation, grouping and subtotals, removing duplicates, custom and formula-based conditional formatting | data validation and drop-down lists, remove duplicates, formula-based conditional formatting |
| Create advanced formulas and macros (25 to 30 %) | nested logic with IF, IFS, SWITCH, the IFS family, AND, OR, NOT, LET; XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH; NOW, TODAY, WEEKDAY, WORKDAY; Consolidate, Goal Seek, Scenario Manager, NPER, PMT, FILTER, SORTBY; tracing and evaluating formulas; recording simple macros | IFS, AND and OR, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, AVERAGEIF, MAXIFS and MINIFS, XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, INDEX and MATCH, date functions, WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS, PMT and growth, FILTER and SORTBY, error values |
| Manage advanced charts and tables (25 to 30 %) | dual-axis and combo charts, box and whisker, funnel, histogram, sunburst and waterfall charts; PivotTables with slicers, grouping, calculated fields and value settings; PivotCharts | PivotTables |
What we cover and what we do not
LearnThisNext teaches by doing: you type formulas in a sheet in your browser, and each answer is checked against hidden, changed data. That makes it a good fit for the parts of MOS where you have to build something that calculates correctly: references, functions, lookups, conditional logic, dynamic arrays, conditional formatting rules, validation and PivotTables.
We do not simulate the full Excel interface. Page setup, printing, protection, macros, Goal Seek, Scenario Manager, Sparklines, named ranges and the advanced chart types are not in our lessons. For those, work through the ribbon in a real copy of Excel in the version you plan to test on. If you want to rehearse in an exam-style environment, ask your test center which practice tests it recommends.
A study plan that uses both
- Download the current skills outline from the MO-210 or MO-211 page on Microsoft Learn and tick off what you already know.
- Take our free Excel skills test to see which formula topics are solid.
- Work through the matching lessons in the Excel course until you solve each exercise without hints.
- Practice the interface tasks in your own Excel, one outline bullet at a time.
- Time yourself. Fifty minutes goes fast when a project has several tasks.
Frequently asked questions
Should I take Associate or Expert?
Associate covers everyday spreadsheet work. Expert adds the analysis features many finance and analyst roles use. Microsoft's Excel Expert page does not list Associate as a requirement, but the Expert outline assumes you already know everything in Associate.
Microsoft 365 Apps or Office 2019?
Pick the version you use at work or the one your employer names. The Microsoft 365 Apps exams include newer functions such as SORT, UNIQUE, FILTER, XLOOKUP and LET.
Is the LearnThisNext certificate the same as MOS?
No. Ours confirms that you passed our own hands-on final test. It is not a Microsoft certification. Our Excel certification comparison explains the difference.
Are your lessons free?
Yes, every lesson and its exercises. Premium adds unlimited extra practice, the final test and the certificate.