MD-102 Changed on 24 July 2026: New Exam Name, a New Fifth Domain and Is Your Study Guide Still Valid?

If you booked MD-102 before the summer and have been working through a study guide since, the exam you turn up to is not quite the one you started revising for. Microsoft updated the English version of MD-102 on 24 July 2026, and the change is bigger than the usual objective tidy-up. The exam picked up a fifth skill area, two existing areas had their weightings moved, and three sub-objectives are flagged as major rewrites in Microsoft's own change log.

The short answer to the question in the title: your study guide is mostly still valid, but roughly one question in eight now comes from material that did not exist in the previous outline. This post walks through what changed, what Microsoft says about each section, and which parts of your revision need topping up before exam day.

What Actually Changed on 24 July 2026

Three things moved at once.

The exam title changed. MD-102 is now called "Managing and Securing Microsoft 365 Endpoints by using Intune". It used to be titled simply "Endpoint Administrator". The certification itself kept its name, so you still earn Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate. That mismatch is why search results are confusing right now: half the pages online use the old exam title, and Microsoft Learn uses the new one.

A fifth domain appeared. "Optimize endpoint operations by using automation, monitoring, and reporting" is new, worth 10 to 15 percent of the exam, and did not appear in any previous version of the outline.

The audience profile was rewritten around agents. Microsoft now expects candidates to have "an understanding of Microsoft Security Copilot, Intune agents, and Microsoft Defender XDR", and describes the role as managing devices "by using Microsoft Intune and agentic tools and workflows". Windows 365 was added to the tooling list as well.

Exam Tip: Microsoft updates the English version of an exam first and localised versions roughly eight weeks later. If you are sitting MD-102 in German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese or Chinese, the July objectives reach your version around mid-September 2026. Check which outline applies before you book.

The New MD-102 Domains and Weightings

These are the skill areas and percentages as of 24 July 2026, taken from the Microsoft Learn study guide for the exam.

Manage and maintain devices is still the single biggest section, so Autopilot, configuration profiles, Intune Suite add-ons and remote actions remain the backbone of the exam. What has changed is that the security and operations work around them now carries more weight in total than it used to.

Microsoft's Change Log, Section by Section

Microsoft publishes a change log comparing the previous outline with the current one, and it is more useful than any third-party summary because it tells you where the rewrites are concentrated. Anything marked Major is where your old notes are most likely to be thin.

Four Major flags and one brand-new domain in a single update is a heavy revision by Microsoft's standards. Compare that with the MS-102 retirement and its AB-650 replacement, where the exam was withdrawn outright rather than rewritten. MD-102 survives, but a chunk of it has been rebuilt underneath the same exam code.

Inside the New Fifth Domain (10 to 15%)

The new domain splits into two sub-objectives, and this is the material that no pre-July study guide covers.

Automate management tasks covers automating Intune tasks with PowerShell and Microsoft Graph, extending device compliance through PowerShell, and three objectives built specifically around Security Copilot agents in Intune: investigating threats the agents identify, analysing device performance through them, and reviewing and responding to their recommendations.

Monitor and optimise health covers reporting and data visibility in Intune, including custom reports, filters, workbooks, dashboards and data export. It also covers Endpoint Analytics, proactive remediation scripts, endpoint reliability and user experience scores, tenant health and service communications, and alert rules for compliance drift, enrollment failures and configuration conflicts.

If you have run an Intune tenant in anger, most of this is familiar administrative work. The Security Copilot agent objectives are the exception. They are new enough that hands-on practice matters more than reading, so spend an evening in a trial tenant clicking through what the agents actually surface rather than memorising a feature list.

Is Your MD-102 Study Guide Still Valid?

It depends on when it was written, and the honest split looks like this.

Keep using it for: Entra ID join and registration, Intune enrollment profiles across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, compliance policies, Conditional Access, Windows Hello for Business, Windows LAPS, device configuration profiles, app deployment and app protection policies. These objectives carry Minor change flags or none at all.

Top it up for: enrollment integrations with Apple Business Manager, Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment and Google Zero Touch, Autopilot device preparation policies alongside deployment profiles, Windows 365 Cloud PC provisioning, Windows Backup and Restore through Intune, device queries using KQL, and App Control for Business policies. These sit under the Major flags.

Add from scratch: everything in the fifth domain, particularly the Security Copilot agent objectives and Endpoint Analytics.

Bin it entirely if: your guide still frames MD-102 around Configuration Manager co-management as a headline topic, or predates the April 2026 outline. Anything written for the original 2023 exam is now two revisions behind.

A study guide from the last twelve months is worth keeping. One bought in 2023 or 2024 is not, and the fifth domain alone is enough to fail a borderline candidate.

MD-102 Exam Facts for 2026

Microsoft does not publish a fixed question count for MD-102, so treat any source that quotes one as an estimate rather than a fact. Plan your pacing on the 100 minutes instead.

How This Fits the Wider Microsoft Shake-Up

MD-102 being rewritten rather than retired is worth noting, because 2026 has been the year Microsoft withdrew a dozen role-based certifications. AZ-204, AI-102, AI-900, DP-100, AZ-500 and the AZ-800 and AZ-801 pair have all gone or are going, replaced by AI-200, AI-103, AI-901, AI-300, SC-500 and AZ-802 respectively. Our full list of Microsoft certifications retiring in 2026 tracks the dates.

Endpoint administration survived that cull with its exam code intact. Microsoft rebuilt the content around Intune, agents and operational telemetry instead of renumbering it, which suggests the credential is staying put. If you are working towards the Microsoft 365 admin path more broadly, MD-102 pairs with the new AB-650 exam that replaced MS-102.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is MD-102 certification?

MD-102 is the exam that earns the Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate certification. It tests your ability to deploy, configure, secure and monitor Windows, macOS, iOS and Android endpoints in a Microsoft 365 tenant using Microsoft Intune. As of 24 July 2026 the exam is formally titled "Managing and Securing Microsoft 365 Endpoints by using Intune".

Is MD-102 still valid?

Yes. MD-102 is active and was updated rather than retired, unlike MS-102, which retires in October 2026. If you already hold the certification it remains valid, and you renew it annually through a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn. The July 2026 update changes what the exam tests, not the standing of certifications already earned.

Is the MD-102 exam difficult?

It is a mid-level associate exam that rewards hands-on tenant experience over reading. Candidates who have administered Intune day to day generally find it fair; candidates coming from theory alone tend to struggle with the scenario questions on enrollment troubleshooting and Conditional Access. The new fifth domain adds difficulty for anyone who has not used Endpoint Analytics or the Security Copilot agents in Intune.

Is the MD-102 exam worth it?

For anyone running or wanting to run endpoint management in a Microsoft 365 shop, yes. It is one of the few Microsoft credentials that maps directly onto a real job title rather than a product family, and the July 2026 rewrite has pushed it further towards security and automation, which is where the roles are going. If your work has nothing to do with Intune, your money is better spent elsewhere.

How long do I have to prepare for the new objectives?

The new objectives are live now for English-language exams, so there is no grace period. If you have already booked and are more than a week out, an eight-week MD-102 study plan rebalanced towards the fifth domain is the sensible reset.

Ready to Start Practising?

Reading an updated objective list is not the same as being able to answer a scenario question on it under time pressure. The fastest way to find out whether the July 2026 changes have left holes in your preparation is to sit practice questions and see which domains you drop marks in.

CertCrush gives you exam-style practice questions with full explanations across Microsoft, CompTIA, ISC2, ISACA and AWS certifications, so you can drill the areas the change log flagged as Major instead of re-reading material you already know. Create a free account and start practising, or browse the full course catalogue to find the exam you are working towards.