Microsoft is finally bringing HTML pages in SharePoint, with start rollout planned for October 2026! This new feature allows you to create HTML with Copilot in SharePoint or upload your own HTML from another source. Once stored in the pages library, you can render HTML as a page in SharePoint, make additional edits, and share with your audience. This opens up new possibilities for presenting content beautifully alongside our existing ASPX pages.

I think this new feature opens up many possibilities for data visualization and creating interactive experiences in SharePoint, below some ideas:

  • Creating a custom landing page for a new product or service, where you want to incorporate high-quality images and interactive elements.
  • Building a pricing calculator for services.
  • Presenting interactive dashboards, for example to showcase the results of an internal survey.

Luckily, you don't need HTML skills to create such pages. Generative AI tools, such as Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude make it easy for you to create HTML pages based on your prompt and provided data.

Do we still need SPFx web parts?

SPFx web parts are Microsoft's framework for building interactive widgets in SharePoint that can access and manage data within or even outside SharePoint. You might now think that HTML pages will now replace SPFx web parts, but there is an important caveat. One thing to keep in mind is that HTML pages in SharePoint run in a sandbox, which means that any code within an HTML page is limited to its own boundaries. This is a security feature introduced by Microsoft that prevents malicious code from accessing your data in SharePoint/Microsoft 365. Stefan Bauer has researched this in more detail and shared his findings in his LinkedIn post. Definitely worth a look if you're already considering building more complex scenarios with HTML pages.

When to use HTML pages vs. SPFx web parts?

HTML: If you're only focused on data visualization for static data, or what you want to present can live in a self-contained area, then an HTML page is enough. These would be scenarios such as hyperlinks, a calculator, or a dashboard for already known data.

SPFx: If you're accessing live data in SharePoint or Microsoft 365 (or even another system), like reading or writing in a SharePoint list or displaying pages based on a user's department, then SPFx is still the best option. Also, SPFx inherits SharePoint fonts and theme colors, which is something that the HTML pages won't inherit because they are sandboxed.

Closing thoughts

In conclusion, the new HTML capability in SharePoint is an exciting addition that offers new ways to present content and engage with your audience. While it's not a complete replacement for SharePoint Framework web parts, it can be a valuable tool for certain use cases.

I'm looking forward to seeing what creative solutions people will come up with using this new feature. I personally want to create a pricing calculator as an HTML page, taking it out from the Excel file where it lives currently.

Thanks for reading,
Jarbas