Are you preparing for a Quality Assurance (QA) interview and want to crack it confidently? In this post, we have compiled the Top 75 Quality Assurance Interview Questions and Answers, explained with clear examples to strengthen your preparation. These questions cover manual testing, automation testing, testing techniques, test cases, test plans, defect management, STLC, SDLC, and real-time scenarios asked in MNCs and top product-based companies. Whether you are a fresher or experienced QA professional, these questions will help you revise core concepts and boost your confidence before your next interview.
1. What is Quality Assurance?
Answer:
Quality Assurance (QA) is a process-oriented approach that focuses on ensuring the quality of the product during development to avoid defects. It involves systematic activities like process checklists, audits, and standards to improve development and testing processes.
Example: Implementing code review practices to ensure coding standards are followed.
2. What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?
Answer:
- QA: Process-oriented, prevents defects by improving processes.
- QC: Product-oriented, identifies defects in finished products.
Example: QA sets standards for coding; QC tests the software to find bugs.
3. Explain the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC).
Answer:
STLC includes:
- Requirement Analysis
- Test Planning
- Test Case Design
- Test Environment Setup
- Test Execution
- Test Closure
Example: After test planning, QA writes test cases before environment setup and execution.
4. What is a test plan?
Answer:
A test plan is a document detailing the scope, approach, resources, schedule, and activities for testing.
Example: Describes what to test, how to test, roles, and risks.
5. What is a test case?
Answer:
A test case defines input, action, and expected output to verify a feature’s functionality.
Example: Verify login with valid username and password shows the dashboard.
6. What is a test scenario?
Answer:
A high-level description of what to test.
Example: “Verify user login functionality” is a scenario. Test cases derive from it.
7. What is a bug/defect?
Answer:
An error or flaw in the software causing incorrect or unexpected results.
Example: Login page crashes when a user enters special characters.
8. What is severity and priority?
Answer:
- Severity: Impact of defect on functionality.
- Priority: Urgency to fix it.
Example: Crash on login – High severity, High priority.
9. What is SDLC?
Answer:
Software Development Life Cycle – phases include requirement analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
10. What is regression testing?
Answer:
Testing to ensure recent changes haven’t affected existing features.
Example: After fixing a payment bug, check the entire checkout flow.
11. What is retesting?
Answer:
Testing the same defect again after it has been fixed.
12. What is smoke testing?
Answer:
Basic testing to check if the build is stable for further testing.
13. What is sanity testing?
Answer:
Focused testing to verify a specific functionality works after changes.
14. What is exploratory testing?
Answer:
Simultaneous learning, test design, and execution to explore the application.
15. What is ad hoc testing?
Answer:
Unplanned testing without any test cases to find defects randomly.
16. What is UAT?
Answer:
User Acceptance Testing – performed by the client to validate if the product meets requirements.
17. What is black box testing?
Answer:
Testing without knowledge of internal code; focuses on input/output.
18. What is white box testing?
Answer:
Testing with knowledge of code structure, performed by developers.
19. What is integration testing?
Answer:
Testing combined modules to verify their interaction.
20. What is system testing?
Answer:
Testing the complete integrated system to evaluate its compliance with requirements.
21. What is end-to-end testing?
Answer:
Testing the application flow from start to finish to ensure data integrity and system integration.
22. What is performance testing?
Answer:
Testing how the application performs under load, stress, and volume.
23. What is load testing?
Answer:
Testing system behavior under expected load.
24. What is stress testing?
Answer:
Testing beyond normal load to check stability.
25. What is volume testing?
Answer:
Testing with large volumes of data.
26. What is usability testing?
Answer:
Testing user-friendliness and interface intuitiveness.
27. What is compatibility testing?
Answer:
Testing applications on different browsers, devices, or OS.
28. What is security testing?
Answer:
Ensuring application is protected against vulnerabilities and attacks.
29. What is the difference between verification and validation?
Answer:
- Verification: Are we building the product right? (Process-oriented)
- Validation: Are we building the right product? (Product-oriented)
30. What is a defect life cycle?
Answer:
New → Assigned → Open → Fixed → Retest → Verified → Closed / Reopen
31. What is static testing?
Answer:
Testing without executing code, like reviews or walkthroughs.
32. What is dynamic testing?
Answer:
Testing by executing code.
33. What is boundary value analysis?
Answer:
Testing at boundaries of input ranges.
Example: Input field range 1-100, test with 0,1,100,101.
34. What is equivalence partitioning?
Answer:
Dividing input data into valid/invalid partitions to reduce test cases.
35. What is error guessing?
Answer:
Testing based on experience to guess areas of defects.
36. What is defect leakage?
Answer:
Defect that was missed in testing but found by the end-user.
37. What is defect density?
Answer:
Number of defects per size of code (e.g. per KLOC).
38. What are entry and exit criteria?
Answer:
Conditions to start (entry) and finish (exit) testing phases.
39. What is test coverage?
Answer:
Percentage of code or functionality covered by testing.
40. What is test data?
Answer:
Data created for executing test cases.
41. What is a test environment?
Answer:
Setup of software and hardware for testing.
42. What is defect cascading?
Answer:
One defect causes multiple defects in other modules.
43. What is a test harness?
Answer:
A collection of software and test data configured to test a program unit by running it under varying conditions.
44. What is alpha testing?
Answer:
Testing done by developers at the development site.
45. What is beta testing?
Answer:
Testing done by end users at their location before release.
46. What is automation testing?
Answer:
Using tools/scripts to automate test execution.
47. What are popular automation tools?
Answer:
Selenium, QTP/UFT, TestComplete, Katalon, Cypress.
48. What is the difference between manual and automation testing?
Answer:
Manual – human execution; Automation – tool execution for repetitive tasks.
49. What is continuous integration testing?
Answer:
Automated testing performed every time code changes are integrated.
50. Why is QA important?
Answer:
To ensure high product quality, user satisfaction, and reduce cost/time of fixing post-production defects.
51. What is risk-based testing?
Answer:
Testing features or functionalities based on the risk of failure or impact.
Example: Testing payment gateway thoroughly as it’s critical.
52. What is a test strategy?
Answer:
High-level document defining the testing approach, objectives, and process for the entire organization or project.
53. What is monkey testing?
Answer:
Random testing without any test cases or scenarios to see if the application crashes.
54. What is a test suite?
Answer:
A collection of test cases intended to test an application or feature.
55. What is a test summary report?
Answer:
Document summarizing testing activities and results after test execution.
56. What is defect triage?
Answer:
Process of prioritizing defects based on severity, priority, and impact on the project timeline.
57. What is configuration management in QA?
Answer:
Maintaining and controlling versions of software builds, test cases, documents to avoid inconsistencies.
58. What is API testing?
Answer:
Testing APIs for functionality, reliability, performance, and security.
Example: Using Postman to test REST API responses.
59. What is a stub and driver in integration testing?
Answer:
- Stub: Used when the called module is not ready.
- Driver: Used when the calling module is not ready.
60. What is mutation testing?
Answer:
Testing by introducing changes (mutations) in code to check if test cases can detect them.
61. What is data-driven testing?
Answer:
Testing where test data is read from external files and executed with multiple data sets.
Example: Using Excel sheets for login credentials testing.
62. What is keyword-driven testing?
Answer:
Framework where keywords represent actions performed on objects, separating code from test scripts.
63. What is pair testing?
Answer:
Two testers work together on the same module to find defects effectively.
64. What is a use case?
Answer:
Defines interactions between user and system to achieve a goal.
Example: A use case for placing an online order.
65. What is CMMI?
Answer:
Capability Maturity Model Integration – process improvement approach to improve performance.
66. What is ISO in QA?
Answer:
International Organization for Standardization – defines quality standards like ISO 9001.
67. What is a test automation framework?
Answer:
Structured combination of practices and tools to efficiently automate tests.
Example: Selenium Page Object Model framework.
68. What is defect clustering?
Answer:
Most defects are found in a few modules due to complexity or poor coding.
69. What is the pesticide paradox?
Answer:
If the same tests are repeated, they stop finding new bugs. Test cases need regular review and updates.
70. What is orthogonal array testing?
Answer:
Technique to test combinations of inputs with minimum test cases using mathematical arrays.
71. What is exploratory testing vs scripted testing?
Answer:
- Exploratory: Simultaneous learning and testing.
- Scripted: Based on pre-written test cases.
72. What is a checklist in QA?
Answer:
List of items to ensure all activities are covered during testing.
73. What is compliance testing?
Answer:
Verifying if software adheres to standards and regulations.
Example: PCI compliance for payment apps.
74. What is spike testing?
Answer:
Sudden increase or decrease in load to test system behavior.
75. What is soak testing?
Answer:
Testing system performance under significant load for an extended period to check stability.
We hope these Top 75 Quality Assurance interview questions and answers help you prepare systematically and crack your upcoming interviews with confidence. Practice each question with examples, understand the underlying concepts, and relate them to real-world projects to stand out as a strong QA candidate. For more interview preparation resources on manual testing, automation frameworks, Selenium, API testing, and advanced QA topics, keep exploring Top Interview Questions. If you have any specific topics or questions you want us to cover, let us know in the comments below.
👉 Explore related interview guides to level up your preparation: