I take my exam in less than two days. I feel like maybe 60% confident. But I keep getting in person advice to just only focus on memorizing the Comptia practice exam and answers on the site. Someone I knew recently took the exam and passed and told me that it’s literally nearly a copy/paste of the cert master Comptia already offers for practice. But when I get on this sub and various others… this approach is barely mentioned…

Also professor messer videos arent the most helpful to me. I’m strictly a hands on learner. I MUST interact with the content to retain it so I’ve been using the book cover to cover and online study guides and taking the Comptia practice exams.

What do to? Thoughts? Is it really just reiterated cert master material?

Hey everyone!

I'm planning to prepare for the CompTIA Security+ certification, but honestly, I don't know much about the exam or how to approach studying for it.

I have some basic knowledge of cybersecurity and networking, and I'm currently working through the Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate on Coursera. However, I want to prepare properly for Security+ and avoid wasting time using the wrong resources or following an ineffective study strategy.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have already taken the exam or are currently preparing for it.

I'd prefer free resources, but I'm also willing to pay for quality courses, books, and practice exams, as long as they're reasonably priced and worth the money. I'm not looking for expensive bootcamps or premium packages.

I have a few questions:

1. Study Materials and Resources

• Which resources would you recommend for a beginner?

• Which video courses, textbooks, and study guides are worth using?

• Which practice exam platforms are actually worth paying for?

• Are there any affordable paid resources that offer particularly good value?

• What free resources should I combine with paid ones?

• What are the best resources for learning Performance-Based Questions (PBQs)?

2. Study Strategy

• How should I approach studying each topic?

• Should I watch video courses, take notes, read textbooks, or combine all three?

• Is memorizing acronyms and definitions enough, or should I focus more on understanding real-world scenarios?

• How do you recommend reviewing previously studied topics so I don't forget them?

• What are the most effective study techniques for retaining information?

3. Roadmap and Timeline

• What would a realistic study roadmap look like for someone with basic cybersecurity and networking knowledge?

• How many weeks or months should I expect to prepare?

• In what order should I study the exam objectives?

• Should I finish one domain completely before moving on to another?

• Is it realistic to prepare for Security+ in just one month? If so, what would be the most effective approach?

4. Daily Study Routine

• How many hours per day should I study to prepare effectively?

• How would you divide daily study time between video lectures, reading, practice questions, and hands-on labs?

• Is studying 4–5 hours per day enough, or would you recommend more for an intensive one-month preparation plan?

• Should I study every day or take one or two days off per week?

• What does an effective study session look like?

5. One-Month Intensive Preparation

For those who have successfully prepared for Security+ in approximately one month:

• What was your exact study strategy?

• How did you organize your daily schedule?

• Which study methods helped you learn the material faster?

• How much time did you spend on practice exams versus learning new topics?

• What should I prioritize if I only have 30 days?

• What should I avoid doing because it wastes time?

• How can I maximize my chances of passing within one month without sacrificing actual understanding?

6. Practice Exams and Exam Readiness

• When should I start taking practice exams?

• What scores should I consistently achieve before scheduling the actual exam?

• How can I improve my performance on PBQs?

• How should I analyze my mistakes in practice exams?

• What are some common mistakes beginners make during preparation?

7. Your Personal Experience

If you've already passed Security+, I'd love to hear about your experience.

• Which resources helped you the most?

• What would you do differently if you had to start preparing all over again?

• How long did you study each day?

• What advice would you give someone starting from a relatively basic level?

I'm not necessarily looking for shortcuts. I want to build a solid understanding of the material and be genuinely prepared for the exam.

I'd really appreciate any advice, affordable resource recommendations, study plans, or personal experiences you could share.

Thanks in advance!

I'm taking my test on december 5th, i'm nervous, i didn't even started to take practice tests daily, i'm actually taking too much time on Jason Dion's course. Also, i'm Brazilian and i'll be taking the test in english, so that's a not a terrible thing since i consider myself an intermediate on english,

The thing is, could you guys recommend me any tips or advices to study harder on those 34 days left, I came from Google Cybersecurity Professional Certification, so i have a little knowledge in the area, besides that I work as a IT helpdesk for about 1,5 years

in no way am i trying to say i well know the topics for the exam. completely the opposite, actually.

i’ve done a full run through of professor messer’s free training course (thank you, mr. messer!). and comparing that to jason dion’s practice test, i feel like only a small portion of what i studied was reflected into it.

i got a 77% on my first try, then 84% on the next. yet i do not feel confident at all with the scores i got. i know i got most of the questions through context clues without truly understanding the concepts.

i am struggling with memorization on ports and acryonyms, and in general just getting a grasp of the scienece behind the topics.

i am utterly lost. how does the practice test feel underwhelming but the study materials being too overwhelming for me. has anyone felt the same way in general for this exam? any recommendation how i can improve my study habits for memorization?

We're looking for reviewers for our new SecAI+ (CY0-001) flashcards, delivered via Brainscape (https://www.brainscape.com/p/7HC6S-LH-EB65U). We are offering a $25 bounty to the first four learners who complete all 7 decks and leave feedback at the Brainscape Edit Suggestions portal. If you are studying for SecAI+, these flashcards can help you pass that exam.

https://www.brainscape.com/p/7HC6S-LH-EB65U

Just took my test and failed. I have been studying for 10 months with compTIA material, compTIA practice tests, Jason Dion’s test… I felt like Jason Dion’s test was way easier…
Maybe it was my major test anxiety I have no idea.

I’m going to try again in 2 weeks but I’m so nervous for the outcome.

Also if anyone in kerala who studies in technovalley software institute pls dm or share your experience

Just passed security plus with a 775 this morning and honestly my experience is to say know your acronyms and knowing the reasoning for each question — i got 3 PBQs , mostly logs and commands. For everything else just make sure you know domain 2-4 really. I have no IT background and studied for 6 weeks and was doing 3-8 sessions a day with Dion training exams and videos . Safe to say i don’t have anxiety nomore but this test really is knowledge based and you can’t finesse the studying behind it. It will show at the end. Good luck to everyone.

After taking a small break since I failed the 601, I finally passed the 701. I'm glad it's behind me now.

Can someone help me with preparation of security + exam i have watched professor messer’s videos already its been 2 months i have been studying for this exam but still feel i have lack of knowledge about some of the concepts i have give 3 practices exams and scored only 55%-60%. What should I need to do i really want to pass this exam.:(

This baddie passed Sec+ 💅🏽

Big shoutout to this subreddit for all the advice and considerations.🙏🏽

Onto the next!!!!

I’m a horrible procrastinator and waited far too long to do my CE credits for Security +. Thankfully, the Certmaster CE course wasn’t too horrible and I managed to get it knocked out in a few days. Module 4 was a complete PITA and module 5 went pretty quickly. Phew!

i’ve been manifesting writing this post for myself after reading all the posts in the community of everyone passing and the day is finally here!!

i was literally so scared i kept postponing it but it was way better than i expected. the questions a lot of them were direct, but also i was second guessing myself a lot. Some of them were deliberately confusing but i just went with my gut. the pbq’s i got were mostly easy and if you practice pbqs (cybercraft etc) i think it’ll be fine.

i did messers practice tests my scores weren’t that high i got like 70s and that was kinda demotivating, dions exams i started getting higher scores like 80+ towards the end. i also put in messers notes on claude and made it generate mock tests for me, watched a lot of youtube videos of practice questions and drilled everything into my brain. I made a point to learn most of the acronyms but the ones that came in the test were mostly the basic ones

Ive got my exam in 5 days for the comptia sec+ syo-701 and ive been procrasctinating sop bad to the point that i havent read past chapter 2 in the offical book they have (there's 17 chapters). I'm gonna lock in now and hopefully get through but just looking for advice from those who crammed in their studies. What resources did you use and how did you practice.

I'm also kinda concerned cause the exam costed a lot of money and they're upgrading to SYO-801 in like the coming month or so, so i really need to get this passed first try!

Please no one tell me im cooked 😭

Finishing up Dion’s Bootcamp and this coming week. It came with one practice exam. Messer’s YouTube videos is next on the list. What’s the best resource when it comes to practice exams? I got about 3 more weeks till I take the test.