Free CompTIA A+ Labs: Hands-On Practice With No Account

What are free CompTIA A+ labs?

Free CompTIA A+ labs are hands-on practice where you do the job task instead of reading about it. At Revy's Tech Journey, 52 of our 65 labs are free to use with no account. That covers 34 for CompTIA A+, 11 for CompTIA Network+, and 7 for CompTIA Security+. They run in your browser, so there is nothing to install and no hardware to buy.

Each lab is a procedure from documentation, worked step by step in a simulated tool. It is not a set of exam questions and it does not predict a score. The point is the skill behind an objective: the thing a help desk tech does when a printer will not print or a PC will not finish updating.

What do you need to start? A browser and a few minutes. If you already have a favorite way to study, the labs fit beside it: read a guide, then do the matching lab so the idea becomes something you have done.

What does a lab look like?

A lab gives you a goal, an ordered list of steps, and what you should see when each step works. The Restart a Stuck Print Spooler lab runs in this order: stop the Print Spooler service, delete the stuck spool files, then start the service again. Order matters, so the lab checks the steps in order.

Every step is checked against what you actually do in the simulated tool, not against which answer sounds right. Type the right command, and the lab sees it. Skip the stop step, and the delete step will not count. That is the difference between a lab and a quiz: you cannot guess your way through a procedure.

Each lab also has a public how-to page, so you can read the whole procedure before you start. The Print Spooler how-to lists the steps, the outcome, and the objective it covers. Reading first is fine. Doing it is what builds the habit.

How do the hints work when you get stuck?

On 60 of the 65 labs, hints come as a ladder with two or three rungs. The first nudges you toward the idea, the next names the tool, and only the last rung shows the exact command. You can stop climbing the moment you get unstuck.

That order is deliberate. A hint that hands you the command teaches you to copy. A hint that explains why the step exists, and where to look, teaches you to find it again on a different machine. The ladder is there so the first help you get is the kind that transfers.

Some labs also end with a short recall review. On 31 of the 65, a few quick prompts ask why a step worked and how you would check it if it failed. They are not scored questions. They are the "explain it back" moment that makes a procedure stick.

Which free labs cover CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, and CompTIA Security+?

The free labs cover all three CompTIA tracks, and each lab is tied to the objectives it teaches, 55 objectives across the 65 labs. A few examples show the range.

For CompTIA A+, you can repair protected system files with SFC and DISM, reset a Windows Update that is stuck at zero, set up UEFI firmware for Windows 11, or share a department printer. For CompTIA Network+, you can find where a path breaks with ping and tracert, configure a VLAN, create a DHCP scope with a printer reservation, or re-terminate a failed network cable to T568B. For CompTIA Security+, you can weigh the clues in a suspected phishing email, disable a stale account and remove its local admin rights, or trace an unexpected open port to its process with netstat and tasklist.

Every lab lists the objectives it covers, so you can see why it is there. The Print Spooler lab, for example, covers troubleshooting printer issues in CompTIA A+ Core 1 (objective 5.6) and the Windows command-line tools in CompTIA A+ Core 2 (objective 1.5). One lab can serve more than one objective because a real task does. Clearing a print queue is a printer problem and a command-line skill at the same time.

Not sure where to begin? Pick the objective you feel least sure about and find its lab on the Labs page. If you want the lesson first, the Study Guide covers each objective in plain language, and our free resources page lists sourced outside tools you can pair with the labs.

The other 13 labs, such as BitLocker setup and Group Policy, are included with Academy, Lifetime, the teacher plans, and school and district licenses.

What does the SFC and DISM lab teach, step by step?

It teaches a repair for corrupt Windows system files in a fixed order: run SFC, repair the component store with DISM if SFC cannot finish, then run SFC again. The order is the lesson, and the lab checks it.

The scenario is a user whose apps started crashing after an update, with Windows reporting corrupt protected system files. In step one you run sfc /scannow from the elevated prompt. It finds corrupt files but reports it was unable to fix some of them. That message is the clue to keep going, not a failure.

In step two you run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. SFC repairs protected files from the local component store, so when that store is damaged SFC can find corruption without being able to fix all of it. DISM repairs the store. In step three you run sfc /scannow again, and this time it reports that it found corrupt files and repaired them.

The commands are the ones you would type on a real machine. The prompt and its output are simulated, so you can practice the sequence and read the messages without risking a real PC. The how-to page shows the same steps if you want to read them first.

Can a teacher use these labs with a class?

Yes, with a teacher plan. A teacher can assign a lab to a class from classwork and see completion there, and every lab has a teacher guide with what a correct run looks like, the mistakes to watch for, and what the student sees on screen.

Students do not need an account to try a free lab, which makes a lab a low-friction warm-up for a class that has no time for setup. Labs that are included with Academy, Lifetime, the teacher plans, and school and district licenses are marked on each card. Teachers who want the full picture can start at the pricing page to see which plan includes the classroom tools.

Where should you start, and what do free labs not do?

Start small. Pick one lab for one objective, read its how-to page, and try the steps before you open a hint. When you get stuck, climb one rung at a time. Then do the next lab. Each lab is a single procedure, so one session can end where a lab ends.

There are three simple ways to use a free lab. Use it as a warm-up before a study session. Use it as a check that you can do what a guide describes, not just recognize it. Or repeat it the next day and see whether you still need the hints. Each one turns reading into doing, which is the whole idea.

Know the limits too. The tools in a lab are simulated and use canned data, so a lab shows you the procedure, not your own machine. It does not replace touching real hardware when you can. And it is not a test: CompTIA describes performance-based questions as items that test problem solving in real-world settings, delivered as simulations or within virtual environments [1]. Our labs teach the same kind of work, but they are not exam questions and they do not predict a score. Use them to build the skill, and use the free resources page and your own judgment for the rest.

Ready to try one? Open the Labs page, pick a free lab, and do the first step.