# Design a file system — interview question and experiences | Aced Aced (formerly Exponent) publishes a public search API over its indexed pages; the guide is at https://www.aced.io/agents/agent-access. Source: https://www.aced.io/questions/4905/design-file-system Source observed: 2026-11-04T22:49:38.283Z Last checked: 2026-11-04T22:49:38.283+00:00 Indexed: 2026-11-05T23:31:16.605+00:00 --- # Design a file system. We publish interview questions and community-shared interview experiences to help candidates prepare. This question is categorized as **System Design** and concerns **Software Engineer** interviews. ## Question details - **Reported last asked:** 2 months ago - **Interview experiences:** 3 shared - **Roles:** [Software Engineer](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=swe) (5) - **Companies:** [Amazon](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=amazon) (3), [Meta](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=meta-facebook), [Microsoft](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=microsoft) - **Category:** [System Design](https://www.aced.io/questions?type=system-design) Detailed company statistics are available through [Upgrade](https://www.aced.io/upgrade?src=questions). ## Interview experiences ### Amazon · 2 months ago [Read the full Amazon interview experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/amazon-software-engineer-interview-5c285a). > “Question was multi-stage coding challenge where each completed level unlocked the next set of requirements. Overall, the tasks were fairly straightforward. However, the exercise was quite time-consuming, and I ended up using the full allotted time without being able to complete every level. One challenge with the format was that the stages had to be completed sequentially, so there was no option to skip a level and move on to another problem. This made time management especially important.” **Role:** Software Engineer · Mid Level / L4 ### Meta · 8 months ago [Read the full Meta interview experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/meta-facebook-software-engineer-interview-b344a7). > “Overall, the interview process was pretty straightforward and well organized. The interviewers were friendly and gave me a good opportunity to talk through my experience and approach to problems. The process was a little lengthy, but overall it was a positive experience.” **Role:** Software Engineer · Entry Level / L3 ### Microsoft · a year ago [Read the full Microsoft interview experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/microsoft-software-engineer-interview-89b7e7). > “I interviewed for an SC2 software engineer role on Microsoft's Experience + Devices team, focusing on Copilot integration into the Microsoft 365 suite. After I applied, I got a standard engineer screen that was pretty easy, then they moved quickly into a 4-round final loop over 2 days, which felt like they were on a hiring drive. The weird part was that every final-round interviewer was principal-level, and almost every round, even the system design and hiring manager rounds, was still basically coding. The hardest round by far was a file system prompt where I expected a standard system design, but they wanted a low-level design coded up with classes and multiple use cases in 45 minutes. I still have no official outcome because the recruiter ghosted me for a month after the loop, so honestly, this ended up being the worst interview experience I have had with any company.” **Role:** Software Engineer · Mid Level / L4 ## Community answers No answers have been contributed by the community yet. Log in or [sign up](https://www.aced.io/signup?src=nav&returnPath=/questions/4905/design-file-system) to submit an answer. Submitting an answer marks this question complete. ## Related questions - [Design a file cache system.](https://www.aced.io/questions/5597/design-file-cache-system) - [Design a distributed file system.](https://www.aced.io/questions/3257/design-distributed-file-system) - [Design a RAG system for file search.](https://www.aced.io/questions/7435/design-rag-system-file-search) ## Related courses ### [Software Engineering Interview Prep](https://www.aced.io/courses/software-engineering) ![Software Engineering Interview Prep](https://images.ctfassets.net/x78yjrjc11pq/4VkuYewBHUFIVUS5oJDW5h/02e833439b1289f25f38f13f81cbdca3/adobe_stock_optimized.jpeg?w=800&h=800&fm=webp&q=75) We help candidates prepare for software engineering roles at Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and other top companies through mock interviews, frameworks, senior-candidate advice, and practice covering data structures, algorithms, system design, people management, behavioral interviews, and more. ### [System Design Interviews](https://www.aced.io/courses/system-design-interviews) ![System Design Interviews](https://images.ctfassets.net/x78yjrjc11pq/78x7miFZFjBCrM5GqftrMJ/2f6d26e632c4e7265c49f6a180227edb/system_design_track_compressed_26ac98a46e__281_29_5be2280f31.jpeg?w=800&h=800&fm=webp&q=75) We teach candidates how to answer current system design questions across product, infrastructure, and AI domains with in-depth video examples, written breakdowns, reference patterns, and mock-interview answers from senior engineers and managers. ## Explore Aced Aced, formerly Exponent, offers interview preparation through courses, interview loops, questions, practice, and coaching. 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