TL;DR: SharePoint Site Builder lets you describe a site in plain English and have Copilot build it for you. You review and approve a plan of pages, lists, and libraries first, then it builds the site with sample content. It needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and is still in preview. Permissions, column formatting, and advanced web parts are left to you. Microsoft also lists creating entire sites as “advanced work” that uses Copilot Credits. IT has to set these up through usage-based billing, so confirm billing is in place before you roll it out. It’s a welcome addition to your SharePoint toolbox for a fast first draft. But a site employees will actually use takes real content, branding, and thoughtful design.
Setting up a new SharePoint site has always meant hours of groundwork: pick a template, then create every list, library, and page by hand. SharePoint Site Builder hands that groundwork to Copilot, and the structure is ready in minutes.
Microsoft added it to the Microsoft 365 roadmap (ID 576708) in late October 2026. It’s in preview now, with general availability targeted for December 2026. So what does it build, what does it skip, and what’s still on your team? This guide covers all three.
What is SharePoint Site Builder?
SharePoint Site Builder is a Copilot feature that creates a whole SharePoint site from a natural-language prompt. You describe the site’s purpose, Copilot may ask clarifying questions, then shows a visual plan before anything is created.
Note: In SharePoint, you’ll find it as Create a site with AI (or Build in the new SharePoint experience), and Microsoft’s support guide calls it Solution Builder.
According to Microsoft Learn, once you approve the plan, Copilot:
- Creates the site and configures navigation and settings
- Creates lists and libraries, with columns, views and metadata
- Creates pages with sample content
- Adds sample documents and list items
The roadmap entry describes it simply: “This feature enables users to easily create new SharePoint sites with Copilot,” with a chance to review and confirm the site plan first.
What this means for you: Copilot can now handle the slow, repetitive part of setting up a project site, department site or team hub. Your time moves to the parts that make a site useful: content, design, permissions, and adoption.
How do you create a SharePoint site with Copilot?
Microsoft’s support guide and the Learn page describe this flow:
- Start the builder. From the SharePoint home page, choose Create site, then Create a site with AI. You can also ask Copilot to “create new site” or, in the new SharePoint experience, select Build in the left navigation.
- Describe the site. For example: “I want to create a site to help my team collaborate and track project progress.” Copilot may ask about the site’s main purpose and whether internal or external users will use it. The more detail you give up front (who the site is for, what it needs to track), the fewer follow-up questions you’ll get.
- Review the plan. A visual outline of the proposed lists, libraries, and pages appears next to the chat.
- Refine it in chat. Ask for changes such as “Add a column for time estimate on the Tasks list.”
- Confirm and build. When the plan looks right, ask Copilot to create the site or select Confirm and build the site. A Confirm site creation card shows the site name, site type, sensitivity label, and address. If anything is wrong, ask Copilot to change it first. Select Confirm to start the build.
- Finish setup. A Finish site setup panel appears on the new homepage, and Copilot stays available to suggest improvements.
Two practical tips: the build can take up to 15 minutes, so keep your browser open, and once it starts, it can’t be stopped. Review the plan carefully before you confirm.
Who can use it? Licensing and admin requirements
Four things need to be in place before someone can use SharePoint Site Builder, per Microsoft Learn (Create sites with AI and Get started with Copilot in SharePoint):
| Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot license | Users need an active Copilot license to create sites with AI. |
| Copilot Credits | Microsoft lists “Create entire sites and solutions” as advanced work that uses Copilot Credits. An admin has to turn on usage-based billing with a spending policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Without credits, Copilot explains what it can’t complete. |
| Copilot in SharePoint available to the user | Since November 1, 2026, availability is managed with Site AI settings and Restricted Content Discovery. Copilot doesn’t appear on sites with Restricted Content Discovery turned on. |
| Permission to create sites | Self-service site creation must be on. If it’s off, ask a SharePoint admin to create the site with AI for you. |
One more thing to check: Microsoft says GCC, GCC High, DoD, air-gapped, and 21Vianet clouds don’t currently support Copilot in SharePoint.
What this means for you: if you are an intranet owner, check with IT before announcing the feature. If self-service site creation is off in your tenant (common in governed intranets), people won’t be able to use the builder themselves, and requests will come to IT instead. That can be a good thing: you keep control of how many sites appear. Ask IT whether Copilot Credits and a spending policy are in place too, so site creation doesn’t stall or become an unplanned cost.
What SharePoint Site Builder doesn’t do (yet)
Microsoft is clear about the limits. During the preview, Microsoft Learn lists these among the unsupported features:
- Complex Power Automate flows
- Permission and sharing setup
- Column and row formatting
- Advanced web parts
- Third-party integrations
For these, Copilot might suggest you finish the job manually after the site is created.
Copilot also fills the site with sample data, so every list, library, and page needs real content before launch.
What this means for you: treat a Copilot-built site as a working first draft, not a finished intranet. You get the structure, but not your permissions, your brand, your hub navigation, or the polished landing pages employees will judge your intranet by.
SharePoint Site Builder vs site templates: which should you use?
Until now, the usual way to start a SharePoint site was to pick one of Microsoft’s site templates and build from there. Site Builder doesn’t replace them. It gives you a second starting point. So when you set up your next site, which should you reach for? Here’s how the two compare:
| SharePoint site templates | SharePoint Site Builder (Copilot) | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Pick a predefined template | Describe your needs in plain English |
| Structure | Predefined pages, page templates and web parts | Custom pages, lists and libraries proposed for your scenario |
| Sample content | Pre-populated pages, news posts and web parts | Sample pages, list items and files |
| Existing sites | Can be applied to an existing site from Settings | Creates a new site |
| License | Included with SharePoint (a few templates need Microsoft Syntex) | Microsoft 365 Copilot license plus Copilot Credits |
| Status | Generally available | Preview; general availability targeted for December 2026 |
| Best for | Common scenarios Microsoft already has a template for, such as departments, HR, projects and events | Sites built around lists and libraries specific to your process |
Our view: Site Builder is the better starting point when the site is mostly about structured work (trackers, requests, document sets) that no template covers. Templates remain the quicker route when Microsoft already has one for your scenario, and they don’t need Copilot licenses or credits.
How to make a Copilot-built site intranet-ready
Once Copilot has built your site, this checklist turns it into one employees will use:
- Replace all sample data. Delete sample files and list items, and rewrite sample page content before you share the site.
- Set permissions deliberately. Copilot doesn’t configure sharing, so decide who owns, edits, and reads the site.
- Update navigation. If you use a hub, associate the site with it so it appears in hub navigation. Then check that the site’s own menu matches how people look for things.
- Apply your brand. Match colors, fonts, and the header to the rest of your intranet.
- Design the homepage for people, not lists. Lead with the three or four things visitors come for: news, key links, upcoming events, contacts.
- Check mobile. Preview the homepage on a phone before launch.
- Plan ownership. Name a site owner and a review date so the site doesn’t go stale.
Where ShortPoint fits: the pages people see
Copilot is good at what sits underneath a site: lists, libraries, columns, and views. That’s useful, and we’d recommend it to licensed teams for structured, work-focused sites.
But what employees notice first is the homepage and landing pages. That’s where Site Builder stops: Microsoft says it doesn’t handle advanced web parts or third-party integrations, and it fills pages with sample content.
ShortPoint picks up from there. Picture a new HR site built by Copilot. The policy library and request list are there. Now the homepage needs a branded hero, a news area, quick links to the top five HR tasks, and a contacts section that looks right on a phone.
You have two starting points, both working inside your own SharePoint site:
- Start from a template. The ShortPoint template library (250+ templates, included with every plan) has an HR and employee resources category, including the HR Portal template with quick-action buttons, a team directory, and a document area with category tabs and search. You edit it visually with ShortPoint’s design elements (all 80+ on Pro and Enterprise), no code.
- Describe it to AI Designer. Type, speak, paste, or attach an image of the page you want, and AI Designer builds it in Page Builder on your SharePoint page. It reads your Theme Builder settings first, so colors and typography match your brand before you write a prompt. It doesn’t need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. It’s included in the Pro and Enterprise plans with a starting allowance of AI credits, once a ShortPoint admin turns it on.
In practice, the homepage takes a few steps (full guide):
- Edit the Copilot-built homepage and add the ShortPoint web part, then edit it.
- Use Add a Template to insert HR Portal. You can then open AI Designer and ask it to adapt the template (“swap the hero for our benefits enrollment banner”).
- Replace the sample content and link to the policy library Copilot created.
- Refine with follow-up prompts or edit by hand, then save and publish.
Then use Visibility to show or hide sections by device, SharePoint group, or security group, so managers see their approval tools on the same homepage everyone else uses, without a second page.
Our view: let Copilot build the plumbing, and let ShortPoint build the experience. Site Builder answers “what lists and libraries does this site need?” ShortPoint answers “what will make people open this site every day?” Intranet teams that use both get structure fast and a branded, mobile-ready front door without waiting on developers.
Conclusion
SharePoint Site Builder is a big time-saver for getting a new site’s structure in place. Just be ready for what it leaves behind: real content, permissions, branding, and the pages employees see first.
Want a branded homepage for your next Copilot-built site? Start a 15-day free trial of ShortPoint (no credit card needed) or browse the template library.
Frequently asked questions
SharePoint Site Builder is a Copilot feature that creates a complete SharePoint site from a natural-language description. Copilot proposes a plan of pages, lists, and libraries, and builds the site with sample content once you approve it. It appears on the Microsoft 365 roadmap as ID 576708, added in late October 2026. In SharePoint, you'll find it as Create a site with AI.
Yes. Microsoft states that users need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Creating entire sites also uses Copilot Credits, which an admin sets up through usage-based billing. Users also need permission to create sites, and Copilot in SharePoint must be available to them.
The Microsoft 365 roadmap lists preview in October 2026 and targets general availability in December 2026 for the Worldwide cloud. Microsoft Learn still labels the feature as preview, so dates may shift.
Microsoft lists complex Power Automate flows, permission and sharing setup, column and row formatting, advanced web parts, and third-party integrations as unsupported during the preview. Copilot might suggest completing these manually after the site is created.
No. Microsoft's support guide says the build can't be stopped once it begins, so review the plan before confirming. Microsoft Learn says building can take up to 15 minutes.
Not entirely. Site Builder suits sites built around specific lists and libraries, while site templates are a quick way to start when Microsoft already has one for your scenario, with no extra license. Templates can also be applied to an existing site. Many teams will use both, then customize the homepage.
