38 problems · 1 Easy, 22 Medium, 15 Hard · Ranked #56 of 458
Difficulty breakdown
1 Easy
3% · avg 23%
22 Medium
58% · avg 59%
15 Hard
39% · avg 18%
Top topics
array
68.4%
string
31.6%
sorting
28.9%2x
breadth-first-search
26.3%3.2x
hash-table
26.3%
matrix
18.4%2.1x
Interview profile
Based on 38 reported problems, Pinterest interviews are significantly harder than average - 39% Hard vs 18% across all companies. The majority (58%) of questions are Medium difficulty, which is typical for companies that want to see solid fundamentals without excessive trick questions.
Compared to the industry average, Pinterest puts unusual emphasis on union-find (10.5% of problems, 3.6x the industry average), backtracking (18.4% of problems, 3.5x the industry average), breadth-first-search (26.3% of problems, 3.2x the industry average). If you're short on time, these are the categories to double down on.
The most common topics are array (68.4%), string (31.6%), sorting (28.9%), breadth-first-search (26.3%). Problems below are sorted by frequency, the ones at the top are asked most often.
All 38 problems
Problem
Difficulty
Frequency
Topics
Count and Say
The count-and-say sequence is a sequence of digit strings defined by the recursive formula:
You are given a list of airline tickets where tickets[i] = [fromi, toi] represent the departure and the arrival airports of one flight. Reconstruct the itinerar...
Shortest Path in a Grid with Obstacles Elimination
You are given an m x n integer matrix grid where each cell is either 0 (empty) or 1 (obstacle). You can move up, down, left, or right from and to an empty cell...
Given a string num that contains only digits and an integer target, return all possibilities to insert the binary operators '+', '-', and/or '' between the digi...
The median is the middle value in an ordered integer list. If the size of the list is even, there is no middle value, and the median is the mean of the two midd...
Given an array of strings words representing an English Dictionary, return the longest word in words that can be built one character at a time by other words in...
Given an array of non-negative integers arr, you are initially positioned at start index of the array. When you are at index i, you can jump to i + arr[i] or i...
You are given an m x n integer array grid. There is a robot initially located at the top-left corner (i.e., grid[0][0]). The robot tries to move to the bottom-r...
There is an undirected graph with n nodes, where each node is numbered between 0 and n - 1. You are given a 2D array graph, where graph[u] is an array of nodes...
You are playing a game that contains multiple characters, and each of the characters has two main properties: attack and defense. You are given a 2D integer arr...
Given a string containing digits from 2-9 inclusive, return all possible letter combinations that the number could represent. Return the answer in any order.
Given an array of distinct integers candidates and a target integer target, return a list of all unique combinations of candidates where the chosen numbers sum...
We want to split a group of n people (labeled from 1 to n) into two groups of any size. Each person may dislike some other people, and they should not go into t...
Given a list of accounts where each element accounts[i] is a list of strings, where the first element accounts[i][0] is a name, and the rest of the elements are...
A trie (pronounced as "try") or prefix tree is a tree data structure used to efficiently store and retrieve keys in a dataset of strings. There are various appl...
You are given an n x n integer matrix board where the cells are labeled from 1 to n2 in a Boustrophedon style starting from the bottom left of the board (i.e. b...
You are given a list of airline tickets where tickets[i] = [fromi, toi] represent the departure and the arrival airports of one flight. Reconstruct the itinerar...
HardVery Likely
arraystringdepth-first-search
Shortest Path in a Grid with Obstacles Elimination
You are given an m x n integer matrix grid where each cell is either 0 (empty) or 1 (obstacle). You can move up, down, left, or right from and to an empty cell...
Given a string num that contains only digits and an integer target, return all possibilities to insert the binary operators '+', '-', and/or '' between the digi...
The median is the middle value in an ordered integer list. If the size of the list is even, there is no middle value, and the median is the mean of the two midd...
Given an array of strings words representing an English Dictionary, return the longest word in words that can be built one character at a time by other words in...
Given an array of non-negative integers arr, you are initially positioned at start index of the array. When you are at index i, you can jump to i + arr[i] or i...
You are given an m x n integer array grid. There is a robot initially located at the top-left corner (i.e., grid[0][0]). The robot tries to move to the bottom-r...
MediumLikely
arraydynamic-programmingmatrix
Minimize Result by Adding Parentheses to Expression
There is an undirected graph with n nodes, where each node is numbered between 0 and n - 1. You are given a 2D array graph, where graph[u] is an array of nodes...
You are playing a game that contains multiple characters, and each of the characters has two main properties: attack and defense. You are given a 2D integer arr...
Given a string containing digits from 2-9 inclusive, return all possible letter combinations that the number could represent. Return the answer in any order.
Given an array of distinct integers candidates and a target integer target, return a list of all unique combinations of candidates where the chosen numbers sum...
We want to split a group of n people (labeled from 1 to n) into two groups of any size. Each person may dislike some other people, and they should not go into t...
Given a list of accounts where each element accounts[i] is a list of strings, where the first element accounts[i][0] is a name, and the rest of the elements are...
A trie (pronounced as "try") or prefix tree is a tree data structure used to efficiently store and retrieve keys in a dataset of strings. There are various appl...
You are given an n x n integer matrix board where the cells are labeled from 1 to n2 in a Boustrophedon style starting from the bottom left of the board (i.e. b...
Write a program to solve a Sudoku puzzle by filling the empty cells.
HardSometimes
arrayhash-tablebacktracking
How often are these problems asked?
Frequency scores are based on crowdsourced interview reports. A higher score means the problem has been reported more often in recent Pinterest interviews.
Very Likely
75-100%
Likely
50-74%
Sometimes
25-49%
Rare
0-24%
Preparing for your Pinterest coding interview
Pinterest interviews focus heavily on array, string, sorting problems. If you're short on time, these are the categories to prioritize. The problems on this page are sorted by frequency, so start from the top and work your way down.
Beyond solving problems, practice explaining your approach. Pinterest interviewers care about your thought process - how you break down a problem, consider edge cases, and evaluate tradeoffs between solutions. A clean O(n) solution you can explain clearly beats an O(log n) solution you can't articulate.
What coding problems does Pinterest ask in interviews?add
Pinterest has been reported to ask 38 distinct coding problems. The most common topics are array, string, sorting. 1 are Easy difficulty, 22 are Medium, and 15 are Hard. Problems are sorted by frequency - the ones at the top are asked most often.
How hard are Pinterest coding interviews?add
Based on 38 reported problems, Pinterest interviews are significantly harder than average - 39% Hard vs 18% across all companies. 58% of questions are Medium difficulty. Focus on the high-frequency Medium problems first, then work through the Hard ones.
How should I prepare for a Pinterest coding interview?add
Start with the highest-frequency problems listed on this page. Focus on the core topics: array, string, sorting. Practice solving them under time pressure and explaining your approach out loud. Mock interviews with AI can simulate the real experience.
Simulate a real Pinterest coding interview with an AI interviewer. Get a scorecard with specific feedback on your problem-solving, code quality, and communication.