What is a list randomizer?

A list randomizer takes any list of names, words or numbers and does something random with it. The simplest ones just shuffle the order. The one above goes further: it can pick winners, spin a wheel, split everyone into teams and sort the list again when you're done. You type or paste your list once, press a button, and the result is on screen in a couple of seconds. If you searched for a list randomiser with an "s", it's the same thing.

You'll also hear this kind of tool called a random name picker, a name randomizer, a random list generator, a random order generator, a wheel spinner or a random decision maker. The label changes from site to site, but the job doesn't: take the decision out of human hands so nobody can say it was rigged.

Here is how the five modes compare at a glance.

Not sure which one you need? If you want every name in a new order, use Shuffle. If you want one lucky name, use Pick or Wheel. If you need groups, use Teams. Each mode is explained step by step below.

How to use this list randomizer

The tool above has five tabs across the top and a list box underneath. You can learn the basics in half a minute, but a few features are easy to miss, so here is the full walk-through.

Add your list

Everything starts in the Your list box. It sits on the left on a computer and at the top on a phone. Type one item per line, or copy a column from Excel or Google Sheets and paste it in; each cell becomes its own line. If your names come separated by commas, like Ava, Ben, Cara, Dev, switch the option under the box from One per line to Commas.

A few things happen while you type:

• The counter at the top right shows how many items you have and updates as you go.
• In one-per-line mode, line numbers run down the side of the box. Any repeated name is marked dup so you can see why it was skipped.
• Skip duplicates is on by default and ignores capital letters, so Alex and alex count as the same person. Switch it off when repeats are intentional, for example a raffle where someone bought three tickets.

Three small buttons sit above the box. Sample fills it with a ready-made list so you can try things out. Import loads a .txt or .csv file of up to 2 MB, and Clear empties the box. Your list and settings are saved in your browser, so if you close the tab by accident they will still be there when you come back. Nothing is uploaded.

Next, choose a mode from the tabs: Shuffle, Pick, Wheel, Teams or Sort. The options card changes to match, and the big button at the bottom tells you what it's about to do.

Shuffle a list

Shuffle puts every item into a new random order, which makes it a quick random order generator for speaking turns, presentation slots, a seating plan or a draft. Number the result adds 1, 2, 3 in front of each line. It's on by default; switch it off if you just want a plain list.

The options card also shows how many different orders are possible for the size of your list. For 12 items that's 479,001,600, and every one of them is equally likely. Press Shuffle list and the names slide into their new places. If you don't like what you got, Shuffle again gives you a completely fresh order, not a tweak of the last one.

Pick random winners

Pick is the random name picker for drawing names out of a list. Use the plus and minus buttons beside How many winners to choose anything from one name up to your whole list, then press Pick a winner. A slot-machine style reel spins, slows and settles on the result. When you've asked for several winners they are listed underneath in the order they were drawn, and a line below says how many names the draw came from.

Turn on No repeat winners when you're handing out prizes over several rounds. Anyone who has already won sits out the later draws, and a note under the toggle tells you how many people have won so far. Once everyone has won, press Reset winners to put the whole list back in the draw.

Spin the wheel

Wheel is the classic spinner. Choose a spin time of 3, 5 or 8 seconds (shorter keeps a classroom moving, longer builds a bit of suspense) and press Spin the wheel. The pointer clicks across each slice, the wheel slows down, and the winner appears in the panel next to it, or just below on a phone, with a burst of confetti. Want another go? Press Spin again or tap the Spin button in the middle of the wheel.

After a spin you can press Remove from wheel to take the winner out of your list and spin again for the next prize. The panel also keeps a short list of previous winners, so you can see who has already had a turn. With up to 80 items the names are printed on the slices; with more than that the wheel shows colours only but still announces the winner by name.

Make random teams

Teams splits your list into groups, so this is the random team generator (or random group generator, if that's what you searched for) part of the tool. Choose Number of teams if you know how many groups you need, or People per team if you know the size you want. A line under the controls tells you what you'll get before you press anything, such as "12 people: 2 teams of 6" or "10 people: 1 team of 4 and 2 teams of 3".

Press Make teams and the names are dealt out into coloured team cards one at a time, each with a running head count. Teams never differ in size by more than one person. If you don't like the split, Remake teams shuffles everyone again.

Sort a list

Sort is the one mode that isn't random. It's there because people often need to tidy a list before or after drawing from it. Choose A to Z, Z to A, Reverse (which flips your original order) or Shortest (shortest entries first). Numbers are handled the way a person would expect, so item 2 comes before item 10. Switch on Number the result if you want 1, 2, 3 in front of each line.

Copy, download, print and recent results

When a result appears, the bar along the top gives you four buttons. Edit list takes you back to your names. The copy icon puts the result on your clipboard, the download icon saves it as a text file, and the print icon opens a clean page with the date on it, ready for the printer. The big button at the bottom runs the same action again: Shuffle again, Draw again, Spin again, Remake teams or Change sort.

Lost a result you wanted? Tap the clock icon in the header to reopen the last eight results from your visit.

Shortcuts and handy extras

A few extras are worth knowing about, especially if you use the tool in front of a group.

The tick sounds and chime are there for fun, and you can mute them any time. Full screen is handy on a projector. The whole tool is built to fit on a single screen, so there is no scrolling in the middle of a draw.

What people use a random name picker for

The same handful of jobs come up again and again.

In the classroom. As a classroom name picker, it helps teachers call on students without drifting towards the same few hands. Paste the class list in once, tick No repeat winners, and everyone gets a turn before anyone gets a second one. The wheel goes down well with younger classes, and Teams makes light work of project groups.

Raffles and giveaways. As a raffle winner picker, paste in your entrants, choose how many winners you need and press Pick. If someone bought several tickets, switch off Skip duplicates so their name appears once per ticket and their odds rise to match. Download the result straight afterwards so you have a record of the draw.

Work and meetings. Shuffle the team list to decide who presents first, who takes the notes and who gets stuck with the awkward agenda item. A shuffled, numbered list settles it in one go, and nobody feels singled out.

Splitting the bill. Nobody wants to be the one who suggests paying for everyone, so let the wheel decide who covers the round. When the damage is done, our tip calculator splits the bill and adds the service charge so nobody has to do sums at the table.

Parties and games. Use the wheel to pick the next game, who goes first or who tells the first ghost story. If you're planning a bonfire evening, our Bonfire Night party planner works out the food, fireworks and timings, which leaves the randomness for the games.

Sports and clubs. Five-a-side, pub quiz tables, hackathon groups: Teams mode deals people out evenly in seconds, and Remake teams gives you a fresh split if the first one looks lopsided.

Ideas and everyday decisions. Stuck on what to cook, which film to watch or what to write about? Put the options in a list and let the wheel choose. And if you would rather have ideas handed to you than pick from your own list, our spooky name and costume idea generator does the random part for you.

How fair is it? Chances, odds and orders

Fair means every item has exactly the same chance. With one winner and 20 names, each name has a 1 in 20 chance, which is 5%. The more names you add, the smaller each slice gets, which is simply how probability works. If you need to turn odds into percentages for other numbers, our percentage calculator will do it in a second.

Drawing more than one winner raises each item's chance in a simple way: winners divided by items.

The wheel works the same way. Every item gets a slice of exactly the same size, so 8 names means 8 slices of 12.5% each.

A wheel doesn't make anything more random than a plain shuffle; it just makes the draw more fun to watch. Behind the scenes the winner is chosen first with the secure random generator, and the animation is aimed at that slice.

Shuffling is where the numbers get silly. A list of 5 names can be ordered in 120 different ways. With 10 names it's 3,628,800. By 20 names there are about five and a half times more possible orders than there have been seconds since the universe began. A shuffled deck of 52 cards is almost certainly in an order nobody has ever seen before.

How the random team generator splits people

The team generator deals names out one at a time, like cards, so teams always finish within one person of each other. When the numbers don't divide neatly, the first few teams get the extra person.

The "People per team" setting is a target rather than a promise. Ask for 4 per team with 14 people and you'll get four teams: two of 4 and two of 3. That is fairer than three teams of 4 and one lonely team of 2.

Tips for running a fair draw

• Say how you'll choose before you press the button, for example "one winner, no re-draws", and stick to it. Drawing again until you like the result defeats the point.
• If the draw is live, share your screen or use full screen mode so everyone can see the list and the result.
• Use No repeat winners when there are several prizes, or the same name could win twice.
• Download the result as a text file straight after the draw. It gives you a record if anyone asks later.
• Check your names for typos before drawing. The tool trims stray spaces and ignores capital letters when it looks for duplicates, but it can't tell Jon from John.

Frequently asked questions

Add this tool to your website

Teachers, bloggers and event organisers are welcome to put this list randomizer on their own pages. Copy the code below and paste it into the HTML of any page or post. Change the height number if you want the box taller or shorter.

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