How to send an HTML page in Messages on iPhone so it opens in one tap

You made a page with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini: a quiz, a birthday invite, a price list, a small game. Your friend has an iPhone, and you talk in Messages. You want them to tap once and see the page.

Messages can carry the file. Apple's help doesn't say what the other iPhone does with it. This guide shows what Apple does say, and how to send a link that opens as the page instead. Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 27 and its Support articles were read on November 6, 2026.

Can you send an HTML file in iMessage?

Yes, between Apple devices. Apple's article on iMessage, RCS, and SMS/MMS says that with iMessage, “You can send texts, high resolution photos and videos, documents, links, Tapbacks, text effects, Live Stickers, message effects, and more.”

Apple's help sends a file from the Files app, not from the conversation:

1. Go to the Files app and find the .html file.
2. Touch and hold the file, then tap Share.
3. Choose Messages, then tap Send.

Apple's Files help gives those steps: “Choose an option for sending (for example, AirDrop, Messages, or Mail), then tap Send.” Inside a conversation, the Add button sends “photos, videos, stickers, polls, audio messages, your location, and more,” according to Apple's Messages help. That list doesn't name files. Apple's Messages help gives no size limit for a document sent with iMessage.

Green bubbles: a friend without iMessage

When you can't use iMessage, for example because your friend isn't using an Apple device, Messages uses RCS, SMS, or MMS, in green bubbles. Apple's lists for those name “texts, high resolution photos and videos, links, and more” (RCS) and “texts, photos and videos, links, and more” (SMS/MMS). Neither names documents. Apple also warns: “Content may not appear as expected when you send messages to recipients who are using non-Apple devices.” A link is on all 3 lists.

What the other person sees when they tap the file

Apple's Messages help doesn't say how Messages opens an .html attachment. Here is what Apple does say, and what our own tests showed.

• Apple's Messages help. Its page on sharing content says to “Tap a message attachment, tap the Share button,” and that the Share button can also “copy, save, or print your attachment.” It doesn't name where a saved file goes.
• The Files app. Apple's Files help says: “If you haven't installed the app that created a file, a preview of the file opens in Quick Look.” We saved .html files in Files on iOS 26.3 in Apple's iPhone Simulator on October 6, 2026, and tapped them. Quick Look showed the text and the CSS inside the file. It ran no JavaScript and loaded nothing from the web, so https:// images, Google Fonts, and Tailwind from a CDN were missing.
• Files the page loads by name stay behind. If the page keeps its styles in style.css or its pictures in photo.png, only the .html file travels. In our Chromium test on October 13, 2026, a page copied alone lost its separate CSS, image, and script. Only the CSS written inside the .html file still applied.

We didn't test Messages itself, on an iPhone, a Mac, or to a green-bubble phone. A quiz, a game, or a page with tabs can look finished in a preview and do nothing when tapped.

File or link: what the other person gets

Send an HTML page in Messages as a link in 4 steps

The upload box at the top of this page turns your file into a link. To compare it with Netlify Drop, GitHub Pages, and other hosts, read How to share an HTML file as a link.

1. Put the page in one file

Convika accepts one .html or .htm file up to 2 MB, or code pasted into the box. If the page uses a separate CSS file or pictures from your computer, ask the AI that wrote it: “Give me the whole page as one HTML file, with the CSS inline and full https:// links for images.”

2. Drop the file or paste the code

Drag your file into the box at the top of this page or tap Choose a file and pick it in Files, or select Paste code and paste the code. On a phone, copy everything from the chat with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, from the first line to the closing </html>. Click Get my preview link. You don't need an account or an email address. If the code still points to files on your computer, the box lists them so you can fix those first.

3. Check the preview on your own phone

When you see “Your preview is ready,” click Copy link and open it on your iPhone. Check the layout, the text size, and the images. The preview works for 3 minutes, search engines are told not to index it, and its scripts and forms are off, so buttons and quizzes don't respond yet. Don't send this link to your friend.

4. Keep the page, publish it, and paste the address into Messages

Click Keep this page — free, no card and sign up. The page moves into your account as you uploaded it, with its scripts running, and the preview link stops working. Click Publish page, choose Public under Who can open this page?, and click Next. The first time, click Publish free. The page goes live at an address that stays the same until you click Unpublish, with the small Convika bar at the bottom. Copy that address. In Messages, open the conversation, paste the link into the text field, and tap the Send button, as Apple's Messages help describes. Your friend taps it and the page opens in their browser, without a Convika account.

Who can open the link

One link works for everyone in a group conversation, and for anyone they forward it to.

When you publish, the free choice is Public: anyone with the link can open the page, and it may show up in search results and in Convika's gallery. To keep it out of both, choose Private link (Pro) under Who can open this page? when you publish. Anyone with a private link can still open it, without a password or account.

• Leave out personal details. Don't put names, phone numbers, or home addresses on a page you share as a link.
• A password needs Pro. Choose Only people with the password when you publish. Visitors see a password screen first, and Convika sends the page only after they enter the right password. A page password comes with Pro ($12 a month). Send the password in a separate message. See How to password protect an HTML page.
• Fix the page without a new link. Upload the new file on the page's own screen in the dashboard (Update from an HTML file) and publish it. The link already in the conversation opens the new version.
• See how many opened it, not who. Once the page is published, the dashboard counts page views and shows each visitor's country and device over the last 90 days. It records no names and no phone numbers. To collect answers or RSVPs, click Add a form to my page.

Free includes 10,000 page views a month across your pages. Pricing says what happens past that.

When to send the file itself

Send the file when the other person needs the code: a developer who will change it, or a teacher who marks your HTML. They'll open it on a computer. Anyone who only needs to look at the page should get a link.

If someone sent you an HTML file in Messages

Ask the sender for a link. Don't open an .html file you weren't expecting; check with the sender first. If it's a file you were expecting, tap it, tap the Share button, and save it, as Apple's Messages help describes. Then open our free HTML viewer in Safari and tap Choose an .html file. If you're unsure about the file, turn off Run scripts before you choose it. The page runs in your browser, loads its scripts and web images, and your file isn't uploaded. Styles and pictures the sender kept in separate files still won't show. How to open an HTML file on iPhone has the steps from the Files app to Safari.

Frequently asked questions

Can you send an HTML file through iMessage?

Yes. Apple's article on iMessage lists documents among what it sends to another Apple device. In the Files app, touch and hold the file, tap Share, choose Messages, and tap Send. The other person gets the file, not a live page, and Apple's help doesn't say how their iPhone opens it. Send a link if they only need to see the page.

What happens when you open an HTML file in iMessage?

Apple's Messages help doesn't say. Saved to the Files app, an .html file opened in a Quick Look preview in our iOS 26.3 simulator test. That preview showed the text and CSS but ran no JavaScript and loaded no images from the web. Buttons, quizzes, and games need a browser.

How do I send an HTML page in iMessage so it opens as a website?

Put the page at a web address and paste the link into the conversation. Drop the file in the box on this page and click Get my preview link to check it. Then keep the page with a free account, publish it, and paste the published address into Messages. When your friend taps it, the page opens with its scripts running.

Can I send an HTML file to an Android phone from Messages?

Apple's help doesn't say you can. To a phone without iMessage, Messages sends with RCS, SMS, or MMS. Apple's lists for those name texts, photos and videos, links, and more, but not documents. Apple adds that content “may not appear as expected” on non-Apple devices. A link is on every list, so send the page's address. For the Android side, how to send an HTML file in Google Messages gives the same advice from Google's help.

How do I open an HTML file someone sent me in Messages?

Ask the sender for a link first. If you saved the file, open the free HTML viewer in Safari and tap Choose an .html file. It runs the page in your browser without uploading it. If you weren't expecting the file, ask the sender before you open it, and turn off Run scripts first.

Can I share the HTML file from iCloud Drive instead of sending a copy?

Apple's Files help says that for files in iCloud Drive, “you can invite others to view or edit their contents—you don't need to send them copies.” Apple doesn't say whether an invited person sees an .html file as a page, and we didn't test it. To be sure the page opens, send a link to the published page.

Is there a file size limit for iMessage?

Apple's Messages help gives no limit for a document sent with iMessage. For photos and videos sent with SMS or MMS, Apple says “your carrier may set size limits for attachments.” Convika takes one HTML file up to 2 MB. Pictures written into the code make a file large fast, so use images at https:// addresses.

Sources

• What is the difference between iMessage, RCS, and SMS/MMS? (Apple Support) (checked November 6, 2026)
• Send files from the Files app on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 6, 2026)
• Send and reply to messages on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 6, 2026)
• Share content in Messages on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 6, 2026)
• Find and view files and folders in Files on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 6, 2026)
• If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone or iPad (Apple Support) (checked November 6, 2026)
• Change the default apps on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 6, 2026)