<p>High formation breakdown pressure poses a critical challenge in microfracturing testing operations, which are conducted to measure fracture closure pressure and evaluate the minimum horizontal stress. Here, we discuss the Subsurface challenges and remedial solutions based on recent experiences from an extensive microfracturing testing campaign in northern Africa and the Middle East, targeting clastic and carbonate intervals of varying porosity and rock strength. The tested intervals exhibit very high breakdown pressure gradient up to 1.16 psi/ft, close to the downhole tool and packer limits. The ‘pump-out’ technique was utilized as an effective solution whereby a certain volume of mud filtrate was removed from the near-wellbore region. We combined the cyclic injection method, which is helpful for inducing fatigue with the pump-out method to clean out near-wellbore filtrate invasion. The field test results indicate that the multiple rapid loading–unloading cycles by injection (hole pressurization) along with pump-out (hole depressurization) proved effective in achieving breakdown, within the tool limit. The pump-out technique is hypothesized to lower the breakdown pressure by destabilizing the mud cake, providing better pressure communication between the formation and wellbore. The near-wellbore poroelastic effects induced by drilling fluid invasion negatively impact the fracture closure pressures. Mud cake removal by the pump-out approach also improved the fluid leak-off by possibly unclogging the rock pores and/or cracks and yielded reliable, reproducible fracture closure pressures. The study provides practical solutions to achieve formation breakdown and obtain reliable minimum horizontal stress estimates, critical for geomechanical model calibration.</p>