Google Interview Questions

Google Coding & Algorithms Interview Questions

Practice 514 real Google interview questions for 2026. Covers Coding & Algorithms, Behavioral & Leadership, Analytics & Experimentation, Machine Learning, and System Design across Software Engineer, Data Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Product Manager, and Data Engineer roles — real questions from actual interviews with detailed solutions to accelerate interview preparation. This collection highlights the coding-first bar Google uses: expect heavy algorithmic work, role-related data and ML problems, a Googleyness/leadership round, and level-specific differences in what’s decisive. What’s distinctive: for Software Engineers you’ll see spatial and streaming algorithms, concurrency and async primitives, LLM-foundations and GPU-job scheduling, plus object-design problems like room assignment; Data Scientists are weighted toward causal experiments, funnel and product-metric diagnostics, bootstrap inference, and percentile/sampling algorithms; ML Engineers focus on transformer blocks, recommendation design and ranking cold-starts; PMs get Maps/Android and product-ideation tradeoffs plus throughput and revenue sizing. New-grad and intern tracks emphasize phone screens and virtual onsites; Google L4 typically keeps the loop coding-heavy while Google L5 expects stronger system-design and cross-team leadership signals. Use focused practice, mock interviews, and level-specific stories to prepare.

514 Questions 1 Company08.01.2026
Showing 20 results
Role
Google logo
Google
Medium
Data Scientist

Implement piecewise linear interpolation for time-to-empty

Time-to-Empty from a Discharge Curve (Piecewise Linear Interpolation) Implement a function time_to_empty(checkpoints, current_soc) that returns the nu...

Coding & Algorithms
4
0
41 people solved
Oct 13, 2025
Google logo
Google
Medium
Data Scientist

Compute violation rate and flag precision in SQL

You are analyzing a Trust & Safety product in BigQuery. Assume 'today' is 2025-09-01 (UTC). Define precise metrics and write SQL to compute them, bein...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
11
0
100 people solved
Oct 13, 2025
Google logo
Google
Medium
Product Manager

U.S. Annual Traffic-Jam Hours Estimation

Estimation Prompt: Annual Hours Lost to Traffic in the United States Estimate the total number of hours that drivers in the United States collectively...

Product / Decision Making
6
0
48 people solved
Jul 4, 2025
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Google
Medium
Product Manager

Supermarket Experience Design

Product Design Prompt: Modern Supermarket Experience Pick one focus area for a modern supermarket and go deep: - In-store layout. - Checkout flow. - I...

Product / Decision Making
8
0
39 people solved
Jul 4, 2025
Google logo
Google
Hard
Product Manager

Reading-Time Estimation for Google Docs

Product Prompt: Reading Time Estimation for Google Docs Design a feature that estimates how long it will take a user to read a Google Docs document an...

Product / Decision Making
8
0
93 people solved
Jul 4, 2025
Google logo
Google
Hard
Product Manager

Legacy Payroll System Migration Plan

Product and Program Prompt: Legacy Payroll System Migration Plan You are responsible for migrating a legacy payroll system to a new platform in a larg...

Product / Decision Making
17
0
100 people solved
Jul 4, 2025
Google logo
Google
Hard
Machine Learning EngineerIntern Locked

Construct connected crop layout and safe paths

This question evaluates constructive grid design and graph-based pathfinding skills, specifically the ability to produce connected labeled regions tha...

Coding & Algorithms
5
1
93 people solved
Feb 3, 2026
Google logo
Google
Easy
Data Scientist Locked

Implement sampling, subarray scan, and percentile estimate

This multi-part problem evaluates skills in random sampling and geometric probability for uniform 2D sampling, algorithmic array processing for findin...

Coding & Algorithms
8
1
84 people solved
Feb 1, 2026
Google logo
Google
Easy
Software Engineer AI Locked

Find Feature Activation Order

This question evaluates graph-algorithms and dependency-resolution skills, including reasoning about prerequisite relationships, ordering constraints,...

Coding & Algorithms
9
0
62 people solved
Jan 26, 2026
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Google
Medium
Software Engineer Locked

Solve matrix groups and recipe inventory

This pair of problems evaluates block-wise grid processing and aggregation for minimum-value selection alongside dependency-resolution and resource-al...

Coding & Algorithms
25
0
216 people solved
Jan 22, 2026
Google logo
Google
Hard
Software Engineer Locked

Compute distance-sum from every tree node

This question evaluates understanding of tree and graph algorithms, including computation of pairwise distances and techniques for aggregating path le...

Coding & Algorithms
20
0
145 people solved
Jan 22, 2026
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Google
Medium
Software Engineer

Maintain k-th largest in a stream

Design and implement a class KthLargest that, given an integer k and an initial list of integers, supports: ( 1) KthLargest(k, nums): constructor; ( 2...

Coding & Algorithms
7
0
75 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
Google logo
Google
Medium
Software Engineer

Compute shortest paths with blocked nodes

Given a graph with nodes and edges and a designated source node s, compute the shortest distance from s to every other node. Some nodes are inaccessib...

Coding & Algorithms
13
0
89 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
Google logo
Google
Medium
Software Engineer

Find largest subset sharing a common digit

You are given a list of two-digit integers (each from 10 to 99, inclusive). You want to select as many numbers as possible in one selection such that:...

Coding & Algorithms
6
0
71 people solved
Sep 5, 2025
Google logo
Google
Easy
Software Engineer Locked

Design compressed vector and compute dot product

This question evaluates understanding of data structure design, sequence compression concepts (such as run-length patterns), and numeric algorithm eff...

Coding & Algorithms
4
0
81 people solved
Jan 11, 2026
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Google
Medium
Software Engineer Locked

Compute distance to nearest taxi in grid

This question evaluates understanding of graph traversal and shortest-path reasoning on grids, algorithmic problem-solving for computing distances fro...

Coding & Algorithms
27
0
213 people solved
Jan 10, 2026
Google logo
Google
Medium
Software EngineerIntern Locked

Maximize sum without choosing adjacent elements

This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of array-based optimization and dynamic programming concepts for computing a maximum sum under non...

Coding & Algorithms
8
0
70 people solved
Jan 6, 2026
Google logo
Google
Hard
Software Engineer Locked

Determine winner in stack-merging game

This question evaluates understanding of combinatorial game theory, impartial game analysis, state-space encoding, and efficient state-space search te...

Coding & Algorithms
10
1
71 people solved
Jan 6, 2026
Google logo
Google
Hard
Software Engineer Locked

Minimize travel time with optional meeting point

This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of graph shortest-path computation and meeting-point optimization, testing skills in handling weig...

Coding & Algorithms
9
0
75 people solved
Jan 6, 2026
Google logo
Google
Medium
Software Engineer Locked

Find where to cut cake into equal areas

This question evaluates geometric area computation, handling of piecewise-constant profiles formed by adjacent rectangles, and attention to numerical ...

Coding & Algorithms
9
0
81 people solved
Jan 6, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard are Google interview questions and how does difficulty vary by level?
Google interview questions are challenging but predictable: they range from medium algorithmic problems for new grads to hard, system- and architecture-focused problems at senior levels. L3/new-grad interviews emphasize correct, clean code with solid complexity and edge-case handling; expect two to three coding rounds plus a Googleyness/leadership conversation. L4 requires optimal solutions, clearer trade-off communication, and sometimes a system-design or domain round. L5 raises the bar on system design, scalability, ownership, and leadership impact. Non-SWE roles shift emphasis toward statistics, experiment design, or model-building depending on the job.
What does the Google interview process look like and where do these 514 questions appear?
The typical loop starts with a recruiter screen, one or more phone or virtual coding screens, then a virtual or in-person onsite loop of 3–5 forty-five minute interviews: mostly coding, plus a Googleyness/leadership behavioral round and usually one domain or system-design session for mid and senior roles. The 514-question corpus covers those stages: phone-screen style coding, onsite deep-coding, system-design prompts, analytics/experiment questions for data roles, ML implementation prompts, and product-spec behavioral cases. Hiring committee review, level calibration, and team match happen after the loop and extend timelines by several weeks.
How should I schedule my preparation and how much time do I need to prepare effectively?
Plan prep based on level and role: new grads should spend 4–6 weeks focused on core data structures, algorithm patterns, and 4–6 polished STAR stories. Mid-level L4 candidates should budget 6–10 weeks, adding system design and production-readiness topics plus mock interviews. L5 and above need 8–12+ weeks emphasizing architecture, trade-offs, and leadership narratives. Break weeks into coding practice, timed mocks, system-design sprints, and role-specific work (experiments for DS, model lifecycle for MLE). Run at least 6–10 realistic mock interviews and iterate on communication and edge-case testing.
What specific subtopics and recurring themes should I expect by role at Google?
For Software Engineer interviews expect spatial and streaming geometry problems (counting or removing points within distance), concurrency and async primitives, deterministic task ordering and schedulers, calendar/free-slot algorithms, boolean-expression fixes, array/subarray patterns, and small-system OOD prompts like dorm room assignment. Data Scientist questions concentrate on causal and experiment design, funnel and product-metric computation, unbiased upgrade experiments, bootstrap and percentile estimation from buckets, sampling algorithms, and applied modeling like shot-conversion. Machine Learning Engineer rounds emphasize transformer/LLM building blocks and trade-offs, recommendation and ranking cold-start strategies, weighted sampling, and implementation details.
Any standout tips and common pitfalls, including level-specific advice (L3, L4, L5) and intern/new-grad notes?
Start by matching preparation to level: L3/new-grad must deliver correct, well-tested code and clear complexity; L4 must reach optimal solutions, explain trade-offs, and show production thinking; L5 must demonstrate architecture, scaling trade-offs, and cross-team impact. For interns/new-grads expect a phone coding screen followed by a virtual onsite; practice timed screens and basic system thinking. Across levels, talk through examples, define constraints, test edge cases, and avoid premature optimization or vague assumptions. Prepare 4–6 STAR stories for Googleyness, and don’t overlook clear, testable code and thought-out system trade-offs.

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