If you’re studying for a Power Platform certification, check which one before you book anything. Microsoft retired two of them at the end of June and has scheduled a third.
What’s Already Gone
Two certifications retired on June 30, 2026:
- PL-500, Power Automate RPA Developer Associate
- PL-600, Power Platform Solution Architect Expert
The notice on the PL-600 page is blunt: the certification, its exam and its renewal assessments were all retired on that date, and you can no longer earn or renew it.
The Architect Tier Moved, It Didn’t Vanish
PL-600 was the Power-Platform-specific expert credential. What now occupies the advanced solution-architect slot is Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect, exam AB-100, and it is a different animal.
Microsoft lists it at Advanced level for the Solution Architect role, but across three products rather than one: Dynamics 365, Microsoft Copilot and Power Platform. The exam runs 100 minutes and assesses planning, designing and deploying AI-powered business solutions. The competencies it names are agentic-first design, multi-agent orchestration, Copilot Studio, Foundry tools and models, and open protocols like A2A and MCP.
So the architect path didn’t disappear. It got broader and it got AI-first. If you were heading toward PL-600 because you architect Power Platform specifically, the replacement asks for a wider surface than you were preparing for.
One practical note: AB-100 is currently offered in English only.
PL-200 Has Until August 31
PL-200, Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate, sits on Microsoft’s scheduled-retirement list with a date of August 31, 2026.
That’s the one with a live decision attached. As of this writing there are 31 days on the clock. If you’re already preparing, the question is whether you can be ready before the end of August. After that the exam doesn’t exist and the preparation converts into nothing.
If you can, take it. An earned certification stays on your Microsoft Learn transcript after the exam retires; it doesn’t disappear when the exam does.
If you can’t, stop preparing for it now rather than in three weeks. The material still teaches you Power Platform. The credential at the end of it just won’t be available.
What’s Left of the PL Path
PL-400, Power Platform Developer Associate, is active and carries no retirement notice. Microsoft lists a March 19, 2026 update to its English version. It’s a 100-minute exam covering technical design, building Power Platform solutions, Power Apps improvements, extending the user experience, extending the platform, and integrations.
PL-300, Power BI Data Analyst, is not currently listed in Microsoft’s next-12-month retirement table.
Worth being precise about what that table is: it shows exams scheduled to retire in the next twelve months, and Microsoft notes the information is subject to change. Absence from it means nothing is announced, not that nothing is coming.
Alongside those, Microsoft has been adding AI-centric credentials that touch Power Platform, including AI Agent Builder Associate. If the direction of travel matters to you more than any single exam, that’s the direction.
If You Already Hold One of These
Nothing to do. Earned certifications stay on your transcript after the exam retires.
The one thing worth checking is renewal. Microsoft’s guidance is that if you’re eligible to renew before the retirement date, do it then, because the option goes away afterward. For PL-500 and PL-600 that window has closed. For PL-200 it closes on August 31 with the exam.
If You’re Mid-Prep Right Now
Three questions, in order.
Which exam code is on your study material? If it’s PL-500 or PL-600, stop.
Can you sit PL-200 before August 31? If yes, book it now and practice against the published exam domains. Our PL-200 questions span all four, and the readiness score tells you whether you look exam-ready before you spend the exam fee finding out.
If not, move to PL-400 if you build on the platform, or PL-300 if your work is closer to reporting and data.
And check the retirement table before you start any Microsoft certification, not after. AI-900 also retired on June 30, 2026.
