AB-650 study plan

Week 1chapters 1–4 · about 8 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. The Microsoft 365 tenant
  • 2. Licences, backup and service health
  • 3. Workloads: Mailboxes, Teams and SharePoint for Copilot
  • 4. Identities in Microsoft Entra
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Group-based licensing in Microsoft 365, Administrative units in Microsoft Entra ID.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Configure and manage Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 20–25%Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 40–45%

Week 2chapters 5–9 · about 9 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 5. Authentication and Conditional Access
  • 6. Defender for Office 365
  • 7. Purview: DLP, labels and retention
  • 8. Purview for AI: DLP alerts and DSPM
  • 9. Getting ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Authentication strengths in Conditional Access, Conditional Access fundamentals: assignments, conditions and controls, Attack simulation training in Defender for Office 365, Data loss prevention for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Finding oversharing before turning on Copilot.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 40–45%Manage and secure AI services in Microsoft 365 · 35–40%

Week 3chapters 10–13 · about 7 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 10. Running Copilot: settings, Cowork, providers and connectors
  • 11. Agent identities and access
  • 12. The agent registry and Agent 365
  • 13. Monitoring AI services
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Copilot release preferences and Frontier, Service health for Copilot.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage and secure AI services in Microsoft 365 · 35–40%

Week 4review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official AB-650 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.

Week 1chapters 1–2 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. The Microsoft 365 tenant
  • 2. Licences, backup and service health
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Group-based licensing in Microsoft 365.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Configure and manage Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 20–25%

Week 2chapter 3 · about 2 hours Done

• Read chapter:
  • 3. Workloads: Mailboxes, Teams and SharePoint for Copilot
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Configure and manage Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 20–25%

Week 3chapters 4–5 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 4. Identities in Microsoft Entra
  • 5. Authentication and Conditional Access
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Administrative units in Microsoft Entra ID, Authentication strengths in Conditional Access, Conditional Access fundamentals: assignments, conditions and controls.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 40–45%

Week 4chapters 6–7 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 6. Defender for Office 365
  • 7. Purview: DLP, labels and retention
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Attack simulation training in Defender for Office 365, Data loss prevention for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 40–45%

Week 5chapters 8–9 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 8. Purview for AI: DLP alerts and DSPM
  • 9. Getting ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Finding oversharing before turning on Copilot.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads · 40–45%Manage and secure AI services in Microsoft 365 · 35–40%

Week 6chapters 10–11 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 10. Running Copilot: settings, Cowork, providers and connectors
  • 11. Agent identities and access
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Copilot release preferences and Frontier.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage and secure AI services in Microsoft 365 · 35–40%

Week 7chapters 12–13 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 12. The agent registry and Agent 365
  • 13. Monitoring AI services
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Service health for Copilot.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AB-650 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage and secure AI services in Microsoft 365 · 35–40%

Week 8review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official AB-650 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.