This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft entra. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your company is implementing a hybrid identity solution with Microsoft Entra ID. You need to ensure that password changes on-premises are synchronized to the cloud within minutes. Which feature should you enable?
Password Hash Synchronization
Why wrong: PHS syncs hashes but not instantly; changes can take up to 2 hours.
Pass-through Authentication
Why wrong: PTA validates passwords on-premises but does not sync changes to cloud.
Seamless Single Sign-On
Why wrong: Seamless SSO provides automatic sign-in but does not sync password changes.
Password Writeback
Password Writeback synchronizes password changes from on-premises to cloud within minutes.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Password Writeback
Password Writeback (D) is the correct feature because it enables password changes made on-premises in Active Directory to be written back to Microsoft Entra ID in near real-time, typically within minutes. This ensures that the cloud password hash is updated promptly, maintaining synchronization for hybrid identity scenarios. The other options do not handle the synchronization of password changes from on-premises to the cloud.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Password Hash Synchronization
Why it's wrong here
PHS syncs hashes but not instantly; changes can take up to 2 hours.
Pass-through Authentication
Why it's wrong here
PTA validates passwords on-premises but does not sync changes to cloud.
Seamless Single Sign-On
Why it's wrong here
Seamless SSO provides automatic sign-in but does not sync password changes.
Password Writeback
Why this is correct
Password Writeback synchronizes password changes from on-premises to cloud within minutes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Password Writeback (which syncs on-premises changes to the cloud) with Password Hash Synchronization (which syncs cloud changes to on-premises or provides one-way sync), leading them to select PHS when the question specifically asks for on-premises-to-cloud synchronization of password changes.
Detailed technical explanation
Password Writeback uses the Microsoft Entra Connect synchronization engine to invoke the Set-MsolUserPassword cmdlet via the Microsoft Graph API, which updates the cloud user object's password hash. This feature relies on a secure channel over HTTPS and requires the on-premises AD to have the password change replicated to all domain controllers before the writeback completes. In real-world scenarios, this ensures that users who change their password on a domain-joined machine can immediately use the new password for cloud services like Exchange Online or SharePoint.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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FAQ
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra — This question tests Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Password Writeback — Password Writeback (D) is the correct feature because it enables password changes made on-premises in Active Directory to be written back to Microsoft Entra ID in near real-time, typically within minutes. This ensures that the cloud password hash is updated promptly, maintaining synchronization for hybrid identity scenarios. The other options do not handle the synchronization of password changes from on-premises to the cloud.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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