Power Platform Fundamentals

Sample PL-900 practice questions

5 of the 298 original questions in our PL-900 bank, written to match the real exam's style and difficulty. Every question includes a full explanation — expand each answer to check your reasoning.

1. Question 1easy

   A business analyst needs to build a mobile app to collect site inspection data, but has no coding experience. Which Power Platform product is the best fit?

   • APower BI
   • BPower Apps
   • CPower Automate
   • DPower Pages
   Show answer & explanation

   Correct: B

   Power Apps is the low-code product for building custom business apps, including mobile apps, without writing traditional code. Power BI is for analytics and visualization, Power Automate is for workflow automation, and Power Pages is for external-facing websites. For a field-data-collection mobile app built by a non-coder, Power Apps (specifically a canvas app) is the right tool.

2. Question 2medium

   Which statement best distinguishes a canvas app from a model-driven app?

   • ACanvas apps can only run on mobile devices; model-driven apps only run on desktop.
   • BCanvas apps give pixel-level control over the UI; model-driven apps generate their UI from the underlying Dataverse data model.
   • CModel-driven apps cannot connect to Dataverse.
   • DCanvas apps require a premium license; model-driven apps are always free.
   Show answer & explanation

   Correct: B

   The core distinction is UI control versus data-first generation. In a canvas app, the maker designs the screen layout freely, like arranging elements on a PowerPoint slide. A model-driven app derives its forms, views, and navigation automatically from the Dataverse tables and relationships it sits on top of — you shape the data model and the app follows. Both run cross-platform, and both can use Dataverse, so the other options are incorrect.

3. Question 3medium

   A company wants to automate a process that opens a legacy desktop application, copies data from it, and pastes it into a web form. The legacy app has no API. Which Power Automate capability is designed for this?

   • ACloud flows with a scheduled trigger
   • BDesktop flows (robotic process automation)
   • CBusiness process flows
   • DApproval flows
   Show answer & explanation

   Correct: B

   Desktop flows provide robotic process automation (RPA) — they automate interactions with applications that have no API by simulating the keystrokes and clicks a human would make. This is exactly the scenario described: a legacy desktop app with no programmatic interface. Cloud flows are for API-connected services, business process flows guide users through stages, and approval flows route items for sign-off — none of which can drive a no-API desktop application.

4. Question 4easy

   What is Microsoft Dataverse primarily used for within the Power Platform?

   • ACreating data visualizations and dashboards
   • BSecurely storing and managing data used by business applications
   • CHosting external-facing public websites
   • DTranslating text between languages in flows
   Show answer & explanation

   Correct: B

   Dataverse is the platform's scalable, secure data backbone — it stores data in tables with defined relationships, security roles, and business logic, and it is what model-driven apps are built on. Visualization is Power BI's job, public websites are Power Pages, and translation would be an AI Builder or connector capability. Knowing that Dataverse = managed data storage with built-in security is a frequently tested fundamental.

5. Question 5hard

   An organization wants to let external customers — who do not have Microsoft accounts — submit support requests through a branded website backed by Dataverse. Which combination is most appropriate?

   • AA canvas app shared with guest users
   • BA Power Pages site with authenticated or anonymous access
   • CA Power BI dashboard published to web
   • DA Power Automate approval flow
   Show answer & explanation

   Correct: B

   Power Pages is purpose-built for external-facing websites that surface and collect Dataverse data, and it supports both anonymous and authenticated external users without requiring them to hold Microsoft 365 accounts. Sharing a canvas app with external guests is awkward and licensing-heavy, a Power BI "publish to web" exposes read-only reports (and is a data-exposure risk), and an approval flow is internal workflow, not a public intake site. The external + branded + Dataverse-backed combination points squarely at Power Pages.