CompTIA A+ Core 1 practice test: free drills for 220-1201

Core 1 (220-1201) is the first A+ exam: up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, 675 to pass on a 100 to 900 scale. Its five domains are Mobile Devices (13%), Networking (23%), Hardware (25%), Virtualization and Cloud Computing (11%) and Hardware and Network Troubleshooting (28%). This page has free drills for Mobile Devices, Hardware and Virtualization and Cloud; networking and troubleshooting have their own pages.

5
Core 1 domains: 90 min
up to 90 questions: 675
to pass (100-900): 3
free drills here

Last checked 22 October 2026 · Exam facts and weights from CompTIA

Free Core 1 drills: 12 original A+-style questions each, at exam pace (a minute a question), then every answer explained. No sign-up.

12
questions
12 min
time limit
Free
every answer explained

By the LifeScore Editorial Team · Updated 22 October 2026 · How we check facts · How this is scored

What is on A+ Core 1?

Five domains weighted by CompTIA. Hardware and troubleshooting together are over half the exam, so they deserve over half your study time.

Core 1 domains and weights (CompTIA exam objectives)
Exam	Domain	Weight	What it covers
Core 1	Mobile Devices	13%	Laptop hardware, mobile displays, connections and accessories, mobile device management and synchronization
Core 1	Networking	23%	Ports and protocols, network hardware, Wi-Fi standards, addressing and subnets, network services and tools
Core 1	Hardware	25%	Cables and connectors, memory, storage and RAID, motherboards and CPUs, power supplies, printers
Core 1	Virtualization and Cloud Computing	11%	Cloud models and characteristics, client-side virtualization and hypervisors
Core 1	Hardware and Network Troubleshooting	28%	The troubleshooting method and the symptoms of failing hardware, displays, storage, mobile devices, printers and networks

Mobile Devices (13%)
Free drill
Laptop hardware, mobile displays, connections and accessories, mobile device management and synchronization.
Networking (23%)
Free drill
Ports and protocols, network hardware, Wi-Fi standards, addressing and subnets, network services and tools.
Hardware (25%)
Free drill
Cables and connectors, memory, storage and RAID, motherboards and CPUs, power supplies, printers.
Virtualization and Cloud Computing (11%)
Free drill
Cloud models and characteristics, client-side virtualization and hypervisors.
Hardware and Network Troubleshooting (28%)
Free drill
The troubleshooting method and the symptoms of failing hardware, displays, storage, mobile devices, printers and networks.

What do I need to know for A+ Hardware?

Cables and connectors, memory types, storage and RAID, motherboards and CPUs, power supplies, and printers, especially the laser printing process.

RAID levels the exam asks about
Level	How it works	Minimum drives	Usable space with n drives of size s
RAID 0	Striping, no redundancy	2	n × s
RAID 1	Mirroring	2	s (half of two drives)
RAID 5	Striping with distributed parity	3	(n − 1) × s
RAID 6	Striping with double parity	4	(n − 2) × s
RAID 10	Striped mirrors	4	(n ÷ 2) × s

The laser printing process runs in order: processing, charging, exposing, developing, transferring, fusing and cleaning. Most printer questions come down to which step a symptom points to, so learn the order and what each step does.

What do I need to know for A+ Mobile Devices?

Laptop parts and which are replaceable, display types, wired and wireless connections (USB-C, Bluetooth, NFC), accessories, and how mobile devices are managed and synchronized.

Mobile connections and what they are for (our summary)
Connection	Used for
USB-C	Charging with Power Delivery, data, display output
Lightning	Older Apple iPhones and accessories
Bluetooth	Pairing headsets, keyboards and other short-range accessories
NFC	Tap-to-pay and pairing at a few centimeters
Wi-Fi hotspot	Sharing a phone's cellular data with other devices
MDM	Enforcing passcodes, pushing apps and wiping lost devices

What do I need to know for A+ Virtualization and Cloud?

The service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), deployment models (public, private, hybrid, community), cloud characteristics such as elasticity and metered use, and how client-side virtualization and hypervisors work.

Cloud service models: who manages what
Model	Provider manages	Customer manages	Example
IaaS	Hardware, storage, networking	Operating system, apps, data	Rented virtual servers
PaaS	Everything up to the runtime	The application and data	A managed app-hosting platform
SaaS	Everything	Their own data and settings	Hosted email or office apps

What do A+ Core 1 questions look like?

Three examples follow: a RAID calculation, a charging problem and a cloud model. The first is worked in full.

CompTIA A+-style question 1 · RAID capacity
A technician builds a RAID 10 array from four 2 TB drives. About how much usable storage does the array provide?
1. A2 TB
2. B4 TB
3. C6 TB
4. D8 TB
Worked answer
B: 4 TB. RAID 10 stripes across mirrored pairs, so half the raw space holds copies: 4 × 2 TB = 8 TB raw, and half of that, 4 TB, is usable.
1. Raw space: 4 × 2 TB = 8 TB.
2. RAID 10 mirrors every drive, so usable space is half the raw space.
3. 8 TB ÷ 2 = 4 TB.
The trap: Answering 6 TB, which is RAID 5 (one drive's worth for parity). RAID 10 always gives half.
CompTIA A+-style question 2 · Charging
A user's laptop charges from its own 65 W USB-C adapter, but only very slowly, or not at all, from a 20 W USB-C phone charger. What is the most likely reason?
1. AThe phone charger cannot supply enough power for the laptop
2. BThe laptop's battery has failed
3. CUSB-C cannot carry power to laptops
4. DThe laptop needs a driver update to charge
Show the worked answer
A: The phone charger cannot supply enough power for the laptop. USB-C Power Delivery negotiates wattage, and a 20 W charger cannot meet a laptop that needs about 65 W. It works with its own adapter, so the battery and port are fine.
1. It charges normally from its own adapter: the battery and port work.
2. The phone charger supplies 20 W; the laptop expects about 65 W.
3. Too little power means slow or no charging.
The trap: Blaming the battery. The laptop charges fine from its own adapter, which rules the battery out.
CompTIA A+-style question 3 · Cloud models
A small office stops running its own mail server and uses a provider's hosted email, which staff open in a browser. The provider manages everything. Which cloud service model is this?
1. AIaaS
2. BPaaS
3. CSaaS
4. DOn-premises
Show the worked answer
C: SaaS. Software as a service delivers a finished application over the internet, with the provider managing the servers, the operating system and the app itself.
1. Ask who manages the application: the provider.
2. The office only uses the app in a browser.
3. A finished application from a provider is SaaS.
The trap: Choosing IaaS because "servers moved to the cloud". With IaaS the customer still manages the operating system and the software.

Pass Core 1 on the first attempt

Four drills for each Core 1 domain and eight full mocks, every answer explained.

The CompTIA A+ Pass Pack gives you 8 full mocks on the real clock, 36 drills of 12 questions for the sections that cost you points, and a predictor that turns your mocks into the odds of reaching your target. One payment, no subscription, and your free score stays free.

Prep courses for these tests usually cost $19 to $129. The CompTIA A+ Pass Pack is US$39 (£29), once.

See the A+ Pass Pack How our questions are built and checked

8
timed mocks: 36
topic drills: 1
score predictor

How should I study for A+ Core 1?

Start with networking and hardware, which are the biggest knowledge domains, then troubleshooting, which applies them. Take the free drills here, then a full timed Core 1 mock.

Ports, connectors and RAID levels are memory work: make cards and drill them daily. Troubleshooting is applied knowledge: once you know what a part does, its failure symptoms make sense. The networking page and the troubleshooting page cover the other two Core 1 domains, and the full practice test times both cores.

Hands-on practice pays off on Core 1 more than anywhere: open a PC, identify each part, and replace RAM or a drive. It turns facts into things you have seen, which is what performance-based questions test.

Frequently asked questions

What is the passing score for A+ Core 1?

675 on a scale of 100 to 900.

How many questions are on Core 1?

Up to 90 questions in 90 minutes.

Is Core 1 harder than Core 2?

It depends on your background. Core 1 is more hardware and networking; Core 2 is more software, security and procedures.

What is the biggest Core 1 domain?

Hardware and Network Troubleshooting, at 28%, followed by Hardware at 25%.

Make Core 1 a sure pass

Four drills per Core 1 domain, eight full A+-style mocks and every answer explained, in one payment.