AZ-802 renewal and retake rules
Passing AZ-802 earns the Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate certification, valid for one year from the day you complete all requirements. You renew it for free with an unproctored online assessment on Microsoft Learn, available during the six months before expiry. If you fail the exam, you can retake after 24 hours, then after 14 days between later attempts, up to five tries in 12 months. This page adds the parts that are specific to Windows Server: the retirement of AZ-800 and AZ-801 on 30 September 2026, a renewal page that still carries the old name, and a rename that confuses holders. Career context is on the career page, and the exam mechanics are in exam format.
One year, counted from the last requirement
Microsoft’s credential expiration policy says role-based certifications, meaning associate and expert, are valid for one year from the date you complete all requirements. For this certification that used to be the second of two exams. Since AZ-802 is now the single exam that earns the credential, the date is the day you pass it.
Once the credential expires it cannot be renewed any more. Microsoft’s wording is that you “will need to re-earn the Certification by passing all the required exam(s)”, which here means sitting AZ-802 again at the full exam fee.
Which Windows Server exams are gone
The AZ-800 exam page on Microsoft Learn now carries a warning that the exam was retired on 30 September 2026 and that “you will no longer be able to earn or renew this certification after this date”. Microsoft does not spell out on that page what this means for people who already hold the certification. The same page lists AZ-801 as its related exam; the site’s comparison page covers both. In practice:
| Situation | What the Microsoft pages say or imply |
|---|---|
| You passed AZ-800 and AZ-801 earlier and are still within validity | You hold the certification; per this site’s exam format page, AZ-802 is not required, and renewal runs through your Learn profile |
| You passed only one of the two before retirement | Microsoft’s footnote on the exam page says to refer to the certification page for requirements after retirement; the AZ-802 page lists it as the exam that earns the credential |
| Your certification has lapsed | Re-earn it: AZ-802 is the exam to take |
| Taking AZ-802 while still certified | Reported on the exam format page to reset the expiry to one year from the pass; confirm in your Learn profile |
Microsoft’s renewal FAQ also states that if a certification’s retirement date comes before its expiry date, learners are told to renew before the retirement. For the older MCSA, MCSD and MCSE family there is no renewal question at all: Microsoft says those do not expire.
The renewal page still has the old name
The renewal page on Microsoft Learn is still titled for the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, and its list of assessed topics includes Windows Server failover clustering, which the AZ-802 outline no longer treats as a domain of its own. The FAQ says renewal assessments are aligned with certification exam updates, but Microsoft does not publish a date when this particular assessment will reflect the seven-domain AZ-802 outline. Plan to read the topic list on your own renewal page when it opens rather than assume it matches the exam. Microsoft puts the assessment at about 45 minutes.
The six-month window, and what passing does
- You cannot renew earlier than six months before expiry; expiration times are in UTC.
- Passing extends the certification one year from the existing expiration date, not from the day you pass.
- Renewal is the only way: the FAQ says a beta exam or a retake of the exam before expiry does not renew it, “no exceptions”.
- The assessment is free, open book and unproctored, and has no attempt limit. After a failed first and second try you wait at least 24 hours between further attempts.
An expert-level credential that depends on an associate one does not lapse automatically when the associate expires; each is renewed separately. That matters little for AZ-802, which Microsoft lists with no related exams, but it is why AZ-104 holders who also hold Windows Server need two renewal calendars.
Retaking the AZ-802 exam itself
The exam retake policy for role-based and fundamentals exams, as published on Microsoft Learn:
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| After the first failure | Wait 24 hours |
| Between all later attempts | 14 days, up to five attempts |
| Annual cap | No more than five attempts within 12 months of the first; after five failures you may retake 12 months after the first attempt |
| Fee | You pay again for each retake |
| Passed already | You cannot retake a passed exam unless the certification has expired |
| Waiver | Only for internet or equipment failure with a Pearson VUE case number |
AZ-802 ran as a beta before its launch. The beta policy is that a beta exam may be taken once; if you fail it you may retake the live exam, and if you pass, the certification dates follow the rescoring date, roughly ten days after the exam goes live. The AZ-802 exam page lists only English, so the study guide’s rule applies: if the exam is not offered in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes. Other accommodations go through Microsoft’s accommodations page. The price depends on the country or region where the exam is proctored and is not fixed on the exam page; see certification costs.
The AZ-802 exam page states a retirement date of none. The exam changes page tracks later updates, and the exam day guide covers the proctoring rules.