Random Picker
Paste a list into the box above, one item per line, and it draws one of them at random. Every line has the same chance. The pages under it split a list into teams or give you a letter.
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The list stays in your browser. Nothing you paste is sent to this site.
Every page in this section
- Random Name PickerPaste a list, get one name, remove it and go again
- Random Team GeneratorPaste names, choose how many teams, get an even split
- Random Letter GeneratorOne letter, or a run of them, with or without vowels
What this draw cannot prove
The picker runs on Math.random(), which is not cryptographically secure. That is fine for who presents first, or which name comes out of the hat at a party. If you are running a draw that a participant could have reason to dispute, this is the wrong tool: the page keeps no record, produces no timestamp, and cannot prove afterwards that the draw happened the way you say it did. Draw it in front of the people involved, or use something that logs the result.
The odds are one over your line count
Ten lines give each line a 10 per cent chance, twenty-five lines give each 4 per cent. It counts lines, not people, so a name pasted twice gets double the chance and a stray blank line steals a share. Trim the list before you draw.
Leaving names in is why the same person keeps coming up
Take a class of 30 and draw one name a lesson, putting the name back each time. A given pupil has a 36.2 per cent chance of never being picked across a full 30 lessons, and it takes about 120 draws on average before every one of the 30 has come up at least once. With ten names drawn ten times, the chance that everyone gets exactly one turn is 0.036 per cent. If you want cover rather than fairness on each draw, remove each name after it comes out.
The picker pages
- Random name picker – the same draw, set up for a list of names, with removal as a choice.
- Random team generator – splits the list you paste into even teams. It holds no real squads or rosters.
- Random letter generator – one letter of the alphabet, each at 1 in 26, or 3.85 per cent.
If your options are already numbered, skip the pasting: the number generator takes a range, and the coin settles a straight two-way choice.