Top 30 Manual Testing Interview Questions & Answers for Freshers – 2025

Manual testing is a fundamental skill for any aspiring QA professional. As a fresher, interviewers expect you to be clear with testing basics, types, and terminologies. Here's a curated list of top 30 questions to help you prepare confidently.

Basic Testing Concepts

• 1. What is manual testing?
  Manual testing involves executing test cases without using any automation tools to identify bugs in software applications.
• 2. What is the purpose of testing?
  To ensure software quality, functionality, and to detect defects before release.
• 3. What are the different levels of testing?
  - Unit Testing
  - Integration Testing
  - System Testing
  - Acceptance Testing
• 4. What are the types of software testing?
  Functional, non-functional, manual, automation, white-box, black-box, regression, smoke, sanity, etc.
• 5. What is a test case?
  A test case is a set of actions and expected results used to determine if a feature works correctly.

Test Planning & Execution

• 6. What is a test plan?
  A document that describes scope, approach, resources, and schedule of testing activities.
• 7. What is the test life cycle?
  - Requirement Analysis
  - Test Planning
  - Test Case Design
  - Test Environment Setup
  - Test Execution
  - Defect Reporting
  - Test Closure
• 8. What is a bug or defect?
  A bug is an error or flaw in software that causes it to produce incorrect or unexpected results.
• 9. What is defect life cycle?
  - New
  - Assigned
  - Open
  - Fixed
  - Retested
  - Closed or Reopened
• 10. How do you prioritize test cases?
  Based on business impact, frequency of use, and critical functionalities.

Techniques & Documentation

• 11. What is black box testing?
  Testing based on software functionality without knowing the internal code structure.
• 12. What is white box testing?
  Testing that involves internal logic and structure of the code.
• 13. What is exploratory testing?
  An informal testing style where testers explore the application without predefined test cases.
• 14. What is regression testing?
  Testing existing features to ensure they still work after new changes.
• 15. What is smoke testing?
  A basic check to see if the major functionalities of a build are working.

Practical Questions

• 16. How do you write a good test case?
  By writing clear steps, expected results, using real data, and covering both positive and negative scenarios.
• 17. What is boundary value analysis?
  Testing at the boundary edges like min, max, just inside/outside values of input ranges.
• 18. What is equivalence partitioning?
  Dividing input data into valid and invalid partitions to reduce test cases while maintaining coverage.
• 19. What’s the difference between verification and validation?
  Verification ensures the product is built correctly; validation ensures the correct product is built.
• 20. What is user acceptance testing (UAT)?
  Final phase of testing done by end users to confirm the system meets their requirements.

Tools & Culture Fit

• 21. What bug tracking tools have you heard of?
  Jira, Bugzilla, Mantis, Redmine, etc.
• 22. How do you report a bug?
  With clear steps to reproduce, expected vs actual result, severity, screenshots/logs if needed.
• 23. What is severity and priority?
  Severity = impact of the defect
  Priority = urgency to fix
• 24. Can you explain a situation when you found a critical bug?
  During exploratory testing, I found a login failure due to missing input validation that led to app crash.
• 25. How do you ensure test coverage?
  By mapping test cases to requirements, using traceability matrices, and tracking metrics.

Bonus Questions

• 26. Why is documentation important in testing?
  It ensures clarity, reproducibility, accountability, and aids future maintenance.
• 27. What’s the difference between QA and QC?
  QA = process-oriented (prevent defects)
  QC = product-oriented (identify defects)
• 28. What is ad hoc testing?
  Informal, unstructured testing without test cases. Often done when time is short.
• 29. How do you handle missed test cases during execution?
  Report it, document the gap, and ensure it’s added in next test cycle or regression.
• 30. What are your strengths as a fresher in QA?
  Strong attention to detail, fast learner, good communication, and a passion for delivering quality software.