# Why Your SharePoint Policies Should Be Interactive HTML Pages > SharePoint HTML pages can turn a policy people scroll past into a tool that answers their question, and Copilot can still answer from the same page. Here's how. - URL: https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-html-policy-pages/ - Author: Daniel Anderson, Microsoft MVP (https://www.danielanderson.io/) - Published: 2026-10-04 - Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KRsVpcB3Ag ## Key takeaways - The biggest win from SharePoint HTML pages is what they let you do with content you already have, like policies. - An expense policy can become a claim checker: pick what you're claiming, answer a few questions, get the answer and who approves it. - Keep the full policy on the page so the official wording is always there to check. - Copilot in SharePoint can answer questions from the same page. - Uploading an HTML page needs Allow HTML files turned on in the Site Pages library. Nobody reads a policy for fun. People open the expense policy because they want to know one thing: can I claim this, how much, and who approves it. SharePoint HTML pages let you build the policy around that question. Instead of a document people scroll through, the policy becomes a tool that asks what they're claiming and gives them the answer, with the full wording still on the page and Copilot in SharePoint able to answer from it. Most of the HTML page examples doing the rounds are visual: spinning globes, games, flashy dashboards. They're fun, but I think the bigger opportunity is the content you already have sitting in SharePoint, and policies are the best place to start. ## What an interactive policy page looks like I worked with a client to turn their expense policy into a claim checker. It works in three parts. **A step-by-step checker.** You choose what you're claiming, like meals while travelling or flights, and answer a few questions. The questions change depending on your first choice, so you only see what's relevant. For a meal while travelling in Australia, I entered $200 spent with $50 of that on alcohol, and got back what I could claim, what I'd need to provide and who approves it. There's a summary you can copy straight into your claim. **The full policy, still on the page.** The complete policy sits underneath in collapsible sections. People who want the official wording can always check it, and nothing is hidden behind the tool. **Copilot on the same page.** Open Copilot in SharePoint and ask "Can I claim for meals while travelling?" or "How much can I claim for personal car use?", and it answers from the page content. You get the guided tool for the common questions and a conversation for everything else. ## How to build it I built the page in Claude using a design system, so the branding, fonts and colours were right from the start, then downloaded it as a single HTML file. Getting it into SharePoint takes a minute: 1. In your SharePoint site, choose **New**, then **HTML page**. 2. Choose to upload a file rather than describe a page, and pick your HTML file. 3. Check the page works, then **Publish**. It runs as a proper page in the Site Pages library, not a file preview. If you'd rather start from scratch inside SharePoint, you can also describe the page you want and have Copilot build it. I cover the upload route in more detail in [how to upload your own HTML page to SharePoint](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/upload-html-page-sharepoint-homepage/). ## Design decisions that make a policy page work **Keep the full policy on the page.** The interactive part handles the common questions, but the policy is still the source of truth. Putting it in collapsible sections keeps the page tidy without hiding anything. **Make every answer end with the next step.** "You can claim this" isn't enough. The answer should say what to provide and who approves it, so the person can act straight away. **Let the policy owner own the page.** The page is the policy now, not a nicer copy of it. When the policy changes, the page changes, and the owner is the person responsible for both. Two versions drifting apart is how you end up with people following the wrong rules. **Start with the policies people ask about.** Expenses, leave and travel are good candidates. If your HR or finance team keeps answering the same questions by email, that's the policy to rebuild first. ## What you need to know before you start - **Rollout.** SharePoint HTML pages are rolling out now. Microsoft's roadmap had public preview from early October 2026 and general availability planned for mid-November to late December 2026. - **Allow HTML files.** A site owner needs to turn on **Allow HTML files** under **File types** in the Site Pages library settings before uploads work. - **Licensing.** Opening **New** then **HTML page**, and using Copilot in SharePoint, need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Uploading the file straight into the Site Pages library, publishing and viewing the page don't. - **Branding.** Uploaded pages don't pick up your site theme automatically, so build your branding into the file, or ask Copilot to update the page to match your site. - **What the page can't do.** Pages run in a sandbox, so scripts inside the page work but calls out to other websites and APIs are blocked. That's fine for a checker built on the policy's own rules. Before you rebuild any policy, make sure it's in the right place with the right owner. [Why your SharePoint needs an information architecture before AI](https://www.danielanderson.io/articles/sharepoint-information-architecture-before-ai/) covers the foundations. ## Frequently asked questions **What are SharePoint HTML pages?** They're pages in your SharePoint site built from HTML, either created by describing the page to Copilot or uploaded as an HTML file. They live in the Site Pages library alongside normal pages and can include interactive elements like forms, filters and step-by-step tools. **Can Copilot answer questions from an HTML page in SharePoint?** Yes. With the page open, Copilot in SharePoint can reason over the page content. In my demo it answered questions about meal and car-use claims from the expense policy page. **Do I need a Copilot licence to use SharePoint HTML pages?** Not to view them. You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence to open the New, HTML page screen and to use Copilot in SharePoint. Uploading an HTML file straight into the Site Pages library, publishing and viewing the page don't need one. **Why won't SharePoint let me upload my HTML file?** A site owner needs to turn on Allow HTML files under File types in the Site Pages library settings first. Files also need to be under the 10 MB upload limit. **Which policies should I turn into interactive pages first?** Start with the ones people ask about most, rather than the ones they read. Expenses, leave and travel policies are usually the best candidates.