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TabBench

Random Name Picker & Wheel

Paste a list of names or options, then spin the wheel, draw one or more winners or split everyone into balanced teams. Fair, private and works offline in your browser.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you add is uploaded.

What the Random Name Picker & Wheel does

Choosing a winner, a volunteer or a presenter fairly is easier when everyone can see it being done. Paste your names, one per line, and spin the wheel, draw several winners at once or shuffle everyone into teams. The winner is decided by an unbiased draw before the wheel starts to turn, so the animation can never tilt the result. It works for classrooms, giveaways, stand-ups and family decisions, and your list stays in your browser.

How to pick a random name

  1. Type or paste your names or options into the box, one per line. Use the quick fill buttons to try an example.
  2. To choose one winner, stay on “Spin the wheel” and press Spin. Turn on “Remove the winner after each spin” to draw a name at a time without repeats.
  3. To choose several, open “Draw winners”, set how many, and press Draw.
  4. To split a group, open “Make teams”, choose the number of teams or the size of each team, and press Make teams.
  5. Copy the winners or the teams to share them.

The Random Name Picker & Wheel runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, stored, or logged.

When to use it

Classrooms

Pick who answers next, who presents first or how to group students for an activity, and let everyone see that the choice is fair.

Giveaways and raffles

Paste the list of entrants and draw one or several winners. Because picks are unbiased, you can point to the method if anyone questions the result.

Team and meeting decisions

Decide who goes first in stand-up, who takes notes, or split a group into balanced teams for a game.

Good to know

  • A repeated name gets extra chances, which suits weighted draws. Remove duplicates if you want one chance each.
  • With more than about 36 entries the wheel hides its labels to stay readable. The winner is still shown in full.
  • “Draw winners” gives every possible set of winners the same probability.
  • Teams differ in size by at most one person, however many you ask for.
  • Lists with real people's names are saved only in your browser, for a few days; clear them with the “Clear local data” button on the Privacy page.

Frequently asked questions

Is the wheel fair, or does it favour some slices?

It is fair. The winner is picked first by an unbiased random draw, and the wheel is then rotated to land on that slice. Every entry has the same chance regardless of where it sits or how big its label is.

What if a name appears twice?

Each line is a separate entry, so a repeated name gets extra chances. The tool tells you when it finds repeats so you can remove them if that is not what you want.

How are teams balanced?

The list is shuffled and dealt out one at a time to each team in turn, so team sizes never differ by more than one person.

Can I trust the wheel for an official draw?

The selection itself is sound: a cryptographically secure, unbiased draw. For a legally regulated raffle, follow the rules that apply to you and keep your own record of the entries and result.

What happens when the list has only one entry?

The wheel is a single slice and always lands on it. Add at least two entries for a real draw.

Why does the wheel not show every name when there are many?

Text becomes unreadably small beyond about 36 slices, so labels are hidden while the wheel still works. The winning name is always displayed in full underneath.