CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) Practice Exam
Cover all five Core 1 objective areas — hardware, networking, mobile devices, virtualization, and the troubleshooting that ties them together — with objective-mapped practice questions, instant feedback in Learn mode, and a full timed simulation in Exam mode. Start with a 24-hour free trial.
Start 24-hour free trial →CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam at a glance
- Vendor
- CompTIA
- Exam code
- 220-1201 (Core 1)
- Certification
- CompTIA A+ (requires Core 1 + Core 2)
- Level
- Foundational / early-career IT support
- Blueprint
- Exam version V15, launched March 25, 2025 (current edition)
- Format
- Maximum of 90 questions; multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, and performance-based
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Passing score
- 675 on a scale of 900
- Delivery
- Pearson VUE test center or online proctored
- Recommended experience
- About 12 months of hands-on IT support experience (recommended, not required)
- Languages
- English, German, Japanese
- Version pairing
- Core 1 and Core 2 must be taken from the same version (no mixing)
Source: CompTIA — A+ Core 1 (V15) certification (exam details & objectives). Verify current details with CompTIA before scheduling.
About the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) certification
CompTIA A+ is the industry-standard credential for early-career IT support, and Core 1 (exam 220-1201) is the first of the two exams you must pass to earn it. Where the foundational Tech+ proves you understand the concepts, A+ proves you can do the work: install and service hardware, set up and troubleshoot networks and mobile devices, and reason through faults methodically. Core 1 concentrates on the physical and network side of that job — the hands-on diagnosis a support technician faces every day.
The current exam is version V15 (series code 220-1201), launched in March 2025, and it must be paired with a Core 2 exam from the same version — you cannot mix a V15 Core 1 with an older Core 2. It delivers up to 90 questions across five objective areas, and the weighting is unmistakable: Hardware and network troubleshooting (28%) and Hardware (25%) together make up more than half the exam, so diagnostic reasoning, not memorization, is what gets tested. Every PowerKram practice question maps to one of the five areas, so a weak score points you at the exact objective to revisit. For context on the certification-versus-degree decision many A+ candidates weigh first, see our guide to choosing certifications over a college degree.
A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam objectives and weights
CompTIA splits the V15 Core 1 exam across five objective areas. The weights below are CompTIA’s own and sum to 100% — plan your study time roughly in proportion to them.
Diagnosing and resolving hardware, network, and connectivity problems, and using troubleshooting tools such as multimeters, cable testers, and loopback plugs.
Installing RAM, CPUs, and storage; working with HDMI, Ethernet, and USB cables and connectors; peripherals such as printers and scanners; motherboards, power supplies, and cooling.
Networking protocols, ports, and wireless technologies; setting up SOHO networks including IP addressing and VPNs; networking tools such as crimpers, cable testers, and Wi-Fi analyzers.
Installing hardware such as batteries and Wi-Fi antennas; configuring USB, Bluetooth, NFC, and docking stations; setting up Wi-Fi, cellular, and synchronization; and troubleshooting connectivity.
Virtual machines, hypervisors, and desktop virtualization; and the cloud service models IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS.
Who the A+ Core 1 exam is for
A+ is built for people stepping into their first hands-on IT role: help-desk and support technicians, field-service and bench technicians, and career-changers who want a credential employers recognize immediately. CompTIA recommends roughly 12 months of hands-on support experience, but that is a guideline rather than a hard requirement — many candidates pass while building experience in parallel. It also lays the groundwork for the more specialized Network+ and Security+ exams that follow.
If you are mapping out where a hands-on support credential like this can take you early in an IT career, the IT Administrator role guide in our career hub lays out the day-to-day work, the salary range, and the certifications that build on A+.
What this A+ Core 1 practice exam delivers
Score by objective area
Every question is tagged to one of the five V15 areas, so your report shows whether Troubleshooting or Hardware — the two heaviest — is dragging your score, not just an overall percentage.
Learn mode
Immediate feedback after each question with a full explanation of why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong — built for the scenario-style reasoning Core 1 tests.
Exam mode
A timed, 90-question-style simulation that mirrors the 90-minute format and its mix of multiple-choice and scenario questions, so test day feels familiar.
No setup, no download
Runs in the browser with nothing to install. Your 24-hour trial unlocks the full bank and both modes — no credit card required.
Sample A+ Core 1 practice questions
Ten free questions spanning the five objective areas, each with a full explanation. The complete bank is available with the 24-hour trial.
A user reports their laptop will not power on even when connected to the charger. What should the technician check first?
- The charger’s power indicator light
- The display brightness setting
- The Wi-Fi switch
- The webcam driver
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — the charger’s power indicator light. Following the troubleshooting methodology, you confirm the simplest, most likely cause first: if the charger’s light is off, it may not be delivering power at all, which would explain a total no-power condition.
Why not the others: brightness (B) is irrelevant when the device will not power on at all; the Wi-Fi switch (C) affects networking, not power; a webcam driver (D) is software and cannot stop the machine from powering up.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Troubleshooting →A desktop PC shuts down unexpectedly during heavy use. Which component is the most likely cause?
- The power supply unit (PSU)
- The network interface card
- The hard drive
- The optical drive
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — the power supply unit. A failing or undersized PSU cannot sustain the higher current draw under load, so the system loses power and shuts down precisely when demand peaks. Overheating tied to the PSU or cooling is the classic culprit here.
Why not the others: a failing NIC (B) drops the network, not power; a failing hard drive (C) causes read errors, slow performance, or boot failure, not load-triggered shutdowns; an optical drive (D) is non-essential and would not bring the system down.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Hardware (power) → Further reading: PowerKram — platform administration guide →A workstation’s monitor shows “No Signal” right after the user moved the desk. What should be checked first?
- The monitor cable connection
- The display resolution setting
- The printer connection
- The USB hub status
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — the monitor cable connection. Physical movement is the obvious trigger, and a loose or unseated video cable is the textbook cause of “No Signal”. Reseat the cable at both ends before anything else.
Why not the others: a resolution setting (B) would not produce “No Signal” from simply moving the desk; the printer (C) and USB hub (D) have nothing to do with the video path to the monitor.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Cables & connectors →A user needs to connect a USB-C external drive to an older laptop that has only USB-A ports. Which solution is most appropriate?
- Use a USB-C to USB-A adapter
- Install a new graphics card
- Update the BIOS
- Replace the motherboard
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — a USB-C to USB-A adapter. The connectors differ but the underlying USB standard is compatible, so a simple passive adapter bridges the physical port difference at almost no cost.
Why not the others: a graphics card (B) is unrelated to storage connectivity; a BIOS update (C) will not create a port that does not physically exist; replacing the motherboard (D) is wildly disproportionate to a connector mismatch.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Cables & connectors →A technician is asked to configure RAID 1 on a server. What is the primary benefit of this RAID level?
- Redundancy through mirroring
- Faster write speeds
- Maximum usable capacity
- Striping with distributed parity
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — redundancy through mirroring. RAID 1 writes identical copies of data to two drives, so if one fails the other keeps the system running with no data loss. Fault tolerance is its whole purpose.
Why not the others: faster writes (B) are not RAID 1’s strength — it must write twice; maximum capacity (C) is the opposite, since you lose half your raw space to the mirror; striping with parity (D) describes RAID 5, not RAID 1.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Storage devices → Further reading: PowerKram — platform administration guide →A user cannot connect to the company Wi-Fi, but everyone else can and the network is up. What should be checked first?
- The user’s wireless adapter status
- The Wi-Fi router’s firmware
- The ISP’s status page
- The cabling into the building
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — the user’s wireless adapter status. When everyone else is connected, the shared infrastructure is healthy, so the fault is isolated to the one device — commonly a disabled adapter, an airplane-mode toggle, or a bad driver.
Why not the others: a router firmware issue (B), an ISP outage (C), or building cabling (D) would knock out many users at once, which contradicts the scenario.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Networking →A technician is replacing a failing SSD in a laptop and the user wants all data, applications, and settings preserved. Which process fits?
- Clone the existing drive to the new SSD
- Install the SSD and do a clean Windows install
- Replace the battery before swapping the drive
- Wipe the old drive, then copy files manually
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — clone the existing drive. Cloning copies the OS, applications, settings, and data bit-for-bit to the new SSD, preserving everything the user asked to keep in a single operation.
Why not the others: a clean install (B) deletes applications and settings; replacing the battery (C) is unrelated to data migration; wiping first (D) destroys the very data you are trying to preserve.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Storage devices →A user’s smartphone will not charge with any cable or charger, yet those same chargers charge other phones fine. What is the most likely cause?
- Debris or lint packed in the charging port
- A router misconfiguration
- A weak Wi-Fi signal
- An outdated operating system
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — debris in the charging port. Because the chargers work on other phones, the chargers are fine and the fault is in this device. Lint and pocket debris compacted in the port is the most common reason a connector cannot seat properly to draw power; cleaning the port usually restores charging.
Why not the others: a router (B) and Wi-Fi signal (C) have nothing to do with charging; an outdated OS (D) does not block hardware-level power delivery through the port.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Mobile device troubleshooting → Further reading: PowerKram — foundational cert study guides →A company is disposing of old hard drives that held sensitive data. Which action is the most secure?
- Physically destroy the drives
- Delete the files in File Explorer
- Quick-format the drives
- Move the files to the Recycle Bin and empty it
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — physically destroy the drives. Shredding, drilling, or degaussing makes the data unrecoverable by any means, which is the standard for media that held sensitive information and is leaving the organization.
Why not the others: deleting files (B), quick-formatting (C), or emptying the Recycle Bin (D) only removes pointers to the data — the underlying bits remain and are routinely recovered with free tools.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Storage & data handling → Further reading: PowerKram — security practices guide →A user regularly transfers large video files and complains about slow speeds over a USB 2.0 connection. What is the best way to improve transfer speed?
- Use a USB 3.x port and a USB 3.x cable
- Switch to an HDMI cable
- Increase the hard drive’s RPM
- Transfer the files over Wi-Fi instead
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — use a USB 3.x port and cable. USB 3.x raises throughput by an order of magnitude over USB 2.0, and you need both a 3.x port and a 3.x cable to get the faster speed — the slowest link in the chain sets the ceiling.
Why not the others: HDMI (B) carries video, not file transfers; a higher-RPM drive (C) helps internal disk throughput but does nothing for the USB 2.0 bottleneck; Wi-Fi (D) is typically slower and less reliable than USB 3.x for moving large files locally.
Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives — Cables & connectors →Keep going: study guides and career paths
Core 1 is one half of A+, and A+ is one step on a longer path — it pays off fastest when you pair it with the next skill and a clear sense of where it leads. Two PowerKram hubs back this exam up.
Deep dive: A+ Core 1 exam structure, scoring, study path & what comes next
Exam structure and how it’s scored
The V15 Core 1 exam (220-1201) delivers a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, mixing multiple-choice (single and multiple response), drag-and-drop, and performance-based questions that drop you into a simulated task. Scoring is scaled from 100 to 900, and the passing mark is 675. The performance-based items appear early and are time-consuming, so a common piece of advice is to flag and skip them, clear the multiple-choice questions first, and return with whatever time remains. See our foundational cert study guides →
Where the weight actually sits
The five areas are far from equal. Hardware and network troubleshooting (28%) and Hardware (25%) together make up 53% of the exam, with Networking (23%) close behind; Mobile devices (13%) and Virtualization and cloud (11%) carry the remainder. The exam rewards diagnostic reasoning over recall — many questions hand you a symptom and ask for the first or best step. PowerKram’s objective-level scoring is built to surface which of these areas is dragging your readiness in your first practice run. Read the security practices guide →
Realistic study path
Candidates with some hands-on exposure typically need four to eight weeks: work through the five objective areas, drill objective-tagged practice questions, and re-weight each week toward your weakest area — usually troubleshooting, because it cannot be memorized. Hands-on practice matters more here than for any concept exam: opening a case, reseating RAM, crimping a cable, or configuring a SOHO router builds the muscle memory the performance-based questions assume. A full timed simulation in the final days converts knowledge into exam pace. Read certifications vs. a college degree →
Core 1, Core 2, cost, and delivery
A+ requires passing both Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 from the same V15 version — you cannot pair a V15 Core 1 with an older Core 2. Each exam is delivered through Pearson VUE at a test center or online with a proctor; the online option needs a quiet, private room and a webcam system check. The exam is offered in English, German, and Japanese. Fees and retake policies vary by region and change over time, so confirm the current voucher price and retake rules on CompTIA’s site before you book. CompTIA’s official A+ Core 1 page →
What comes after A+
A+ is the launch credential for IT support, and Core 1’s heavy networking and troubleshooting weighting points naturally toward what follows: CompTIA Network+ for infrastructure depth, or Security+ for a security track. Both build directly on the fundamentals Core 1 establishes, which is why employers treat A+ as proof you are ready to start rather than as a finish line. For role-by-role context on where those paths lead, browse our Career Hub. Network Engineer role guide →
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