Useful Drawer

Random Name Picker

Paste your list and spin. Nobody comes up twice until everyone has had a turn, the wheel reads from the back of the room, and you can send it to a projector while your list stays on your own screen.

Random isn't the same as fair

This is the part most name pickers get wrong, and it is worth being precise about. If you draw at random from the full list every time, each pick is independent — which means in a room of 25, somebody will get called three times in two weeks while somebody else is never called at all. That is genuinely random. It is also the thing people notice and object to, because from the front of the room it looks like favoritism.

What you usually want is a shuffled queue: everyone gets a turn, in an unpredictable order, before anybody repeats. That is what the toggle does. Each name leaves the pool once it comes up, and when the pool empties a new round begins automatically.

Both behaviors are useful, so both are here. Turn the toggle off for a raffle or a genuine coin-flip; leave it on for working through a room.

Built for the back of the room

  • Send it to a second screen. The display window goes on the projector; your list, the settings, and who has already been called stay on your laptop.
  • Wheel or plain name, your choice. The wheel is better for suspense and for a livelier room; the plain name is faster and readable from further back.
  • Full screen shows the wheel and nothing else. No banner across the top, no panel down the side.
  • The text resizes itself. Short names fill the screen; longer ones shrink just enough to stay on one line rather than wrapping awkwardly.
  • Space or Enter picks. You can run it from anywhere in the room with a presentation clicker.
  • Your list is remembered. It is stored in this browser, so tomorrow the list is already there.

Other ways to use it

  • Order of presentations. Leave the toggle on and keep picking — you get a full shuffled running order, one name at a time, with the suspense intact.
  • Raffles and giveaways. Toggle off, so every entry is drawn independently.
  • Standups and retros. Same shuffled-queue logic works for deciding who speaks next.
  • Pulling a name out of a hat. Paste the names and draw one — the browser stand-in for a hat, with a reveal everyone can see.

Picking a winner for a Buy Nothing gift or giveaway

When more than one person asks for the same gift, the fair thing is a random draw — and the awkward part is showing everyone it was fair. Paste the names of everyone who put their hand up, draw one, and use Share the result to save an image you can post back to the thread. It shows the name that came up alongside everyone who was in the draw, so the pick speaks for itself.

The same thing works for a giveaway or prize draw with a list of entrants: draw independently with the queue toggle off, or hand out a running order with it on. Nothing about the list leaves your device — you are pasting names in and saving a picture out.

Questions

What does “everyone before repeats” actually do?

It removes each name from the pool once it comes up, so the whole list gets a turn before anyone repeats. When the last name is drawn, a new round starts on its own and everyone goes back in. Most pickers draw independently every time, which is why the same person can be called three times while someone else is never called at all.

Can the same name come up twice in a row?

Not with the toggle on, except across a round boundary — and even then the tool avoids repeating the person who ended the previous round. Turn the toggle off and every pick becomes independent, so repeats are possible.

Does my class list get uploaded?

No. The list is saved by your browser on your own device, so it's still there tomorrow, and it isn't sent anywhere — there's no server behind this tool to receive it. Clearing the box, or clearing site data for this site, removes it. If you'd rather nothing was kept at all, use a private window.

Is the wheel actually random, or does it land where the animation stops?

The winner is decided before the wheel starts turning, and the spin is calculated to finish on that slice. That ordering matters: it means the fairness rules govern the result and the animation simply illustrates it, rather than the outcome depending on where a spin happens to stop.

Can I turn the wheel off?

Yes. Switch off the spinning wheel and you get the name alone at full size, which is faster and reads from further away. The fairness rules are identical in both modes.

Can I show it on a projector while keeping my list private?

That's what the second screen button does. It opens a display-only window you drag to your projector and full screen there — it shows the wheel and the result on a white background, while your class list, the settings, and who's already had a turn stay on your own screen.

Will it work on a projector or smartboard?

That's what it's built for. Full screen gives you the wheel or the name at the largest size that fits, text shrinks automatically for longer names, and nothing overlays the display.

Is there a keyboard shortcut?

Space or Enter picks the next name, so you can run it from the back of the room with a clicker without going near the mouse. The shortcut is ignored while you're editing the list.

How do I pick a fair winner for a Buy Nothing gift?

Paste the names of everyone who asked for the gift, turn the queue toggle off so every name has an equal, independent chance, and pick one. Then use Share the result to save an image showing who came up and everyone who was in the draw, and post it back to the thread so the pick is seen to be fair.

Can I save the draw as an image to post?

Yes. After a name comes up, Share the result saves a picture of the outcome — the name that was drawn, the full list of everyone who was in it, and the time — that you can post in a group or giveaway thread. Copy image puts the same picture on your clipboard instead.

Can I use it to pick a name out of a hat?

Yes. Paste the names one per line and draw one — it is the browser version of pulling a name out of a hat, without the hat or the slips of paper. Leave the queue on to work through everyone without repeats, or turn it off so every draw is independent.

Is this a wheel of names?

It can be. The spinning wheel arranges the names around a wheel and lands on one; switch the wheel off and the drawn name shows on its own at full size. Both modes use the same fairness rules, so the wheel is presentation rather than the thing that chooses.

Does it work as a classroom name picker?

Yes — it is built for it. Paste your class list once and it is saved in the browser for next time, draw with no repeats so turns spread across the class, and send a display-only view to the projector while your register stays on your own screen.

What would make this tool better? A device that's missing, a detail that looks wrong, an option you went looking for and didn't find — all of it is useful. Send a note.

More in Classroom & Event Screens

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Also coming to this collection: Full-Screen Countdown Clock, Full-Screen Stopwatch.

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