AZ-104 Renewal and Retakes Explained

The short version

Yes, the credential expires. Azure Administrator Associate has a renewal frequency of 12 months. You renew it for free by passing a short online assessment on Microsoft Learn during the six months before it expires. If you fail the exam itself, you wait 24 hours before the second try and 14 days between later tries, with a cap of five tries in 12 months. This page uses Microsoft pages checked on October 22, 2026, and those pages win if anything changes.

Does the credential expire?

Microsoft’s credential page for Azure Administrator Associate lists a renewal frequency of 12 months. Microsoft states that role-based and specialty certifications expire unless they are renewed, and that fundamentals certifications do not expire. Azure Administrator Associate is an associate-level, role-based credential, so the yearly rhythm applies to it.

Microsoft gives the reason in its renewal FAQ: certifications expire after a year so that people keep their skills current as the technology changes.

How renewal works

Renewal is not a second exam. It is a separate, shorter check, and the details are fixed by Microsoft:

  • It is free. Microsoft says there is no cost to renew.
  • It is online and unproctored. Nobody watches you, and it is open book.
  • It opens six months before your expiration date. You cannot do it earlier than that. Dates and times count in UTC.
  • It focuses on recent updates, so it is shorter than the original exam. Microsoft’s FAQ puts it at about 45 minutes.
  • When you pass, your new expiration date is one year after the old one, not one year after the day you passed. Doing it early costs you nothing.
  • Your Microsoft Learn profile shows the new date immediately.

You start from your profile on Microsoft Learn, where a Renew button appears next to the credential once you are eligible. If your profile has an email address and you accepted Microsoft’s communication terms, Microsoft sends a reminder when you become eligible.

There is only one route. Microsoft says you cannot renew by retaking the exam, by passing a beta exam, or by any other path, and that there are no exceptions.

Renewal attempts

The renewal assessment has no attempt limit. If you do not pass, you can try again right away. After the second try, you wait at least 24 hours between further tries. The only requirement is to pass before the credential expires. Microsoft recommends doing it well ahead of the date so that a sick day or a technical problem does not push you past the deadline.

What happens if it lapses

Microsoft’s answer is short: if the credential expires, you must earn it again by passing the required exam. For AZ-104 that means sitting AZ-104 again. This is the one case where Microsoft lets you retake an exam you already passed. For the rules on expired credentials, Microsoft points to its certification expiration policy, which this page does not restate.

A related detail from the FAQ: if you hold an expert credential that required an associate credential first, the expert credential does not expire just because the associate one did. Each one is renewed on its own.

Retakes after a failed attempt

The retake policy for role-based exams, which includes AZ-104, says:

  1. Wait 24 hours after the first failed attempt.
  2. Wait 14 days between all later attempts, up to five attempts in total.
  3. You cannot take the same exam more than five times in a 12-month period counted from your first attempt. After five fails, you become eligible again 12 months after that first attempt.
  4. You cannot retake an exam you have passed, unless your credential has expired.
  5. You pay again for each retake where a fee applies. This guide does not print fees, and the amount depends on the country or region.

There is a narrow waiver of the waiting period. It applies only when you had an internet or equipment failure during the exam and a Pearson VUE case was opened. You need the case number. No other reason qualifies.

If the exam version changes

Microsoft updates the exam from time to time. The skills list this guide follows is labeled “Skills measured as of April 17, 2026”. The English version is updated first, and other languages follow about eight weeks later, though Microsoft says that schedule is not always met. At the time of checking, the AZ-104 page and the study guide show no retirement date and mention no replacement exam.

What this means for you: if you are studying when an update lands, read the change log in the study guide. Microsoft also says the renewal assessments are aligned with exam updates. If Microsoft ever retires a credential, its FAQ says the renewal deadline shown to you will take the retirement date into account, and the window may be shortened for some people.

A timeline example

Say you pass AZ-104 on March 10, 2027.

  • Around September 2027: the six-month window opens, and the Renew button appears.
  • Any day in the window: you pass the free assessment. The new expiration date is one year after the old one.
  • March 2028: the credential would have expired on the date Microsoft shows in your profile, about a year after you passed.
  • If you skip it and the date passes: the credential lapses, and the way back is to pass AZ-104 again.

Check your own dates in your Microsoft Learn profile, because Microsoft calculates them, not this page.

More guides for AZ-104

Next step

If your question is about the exam itself, the exam format page covers timing and scoring, and the study plan helps you prepare in a way that makes a retake unlikely. When you want a timed check before booking, the AZ-104 practice tests are there, and the AZ-104 overview links everything else.

Try the AZ-104 practice exams