How to use it

1. Replace the sample names with your own, one per line. Duplicates are allowed and count as extra chances, unless you switch that off in Options.
2. Press Pick a random name. The wheel spins for about four seconds and stops on the winner.
3. Press Save list to keep the names in this browser for next time.

Keyboard shortcut: press Ctrl (or Cmd) and Enter inside the list box to pick without reaching for the mouse.

Five ways to reveal the name

Open Options and change the reveal style to suit the room:

• Instant — the answer appears immediately. Best when you are picking for yourself.
• Shuffle — a short flicker through the names before it settles.
• Card flip — the result turns over like a drawn card.
• Slot machine — longer suspense, good for parties and giveaways.
• Spinning wheel — the default, and the one to use when a room is watching.

The result is decided the moment you press the button. Every animation is theatre laid over a decision that has already been made, which is why a slow reveal cannot be nudged or stopped early in anyone’s favour.

Presenting to a room

Press Fullscreen before you spin. The wheel and the result scale up for a projector or a shared screen, and the result text gets much larger. Press Escape to come back.

Turn on Sound for a short chime when the wheel stops — useful when everyone is looking at the screen instead of at you.

Drawing several names in a row

Turn on Remove each pick from the list in Options. Each name is deleted from the box after it is drawn, so you can work through a whole list without anyone being called twice. Press Copy result at any point to paste the names into your notes.

To draw several at once instead, set How many to the number you need. Those are drawn without replacement too, so one name never fills two slots.

Giving someone better odds

Turn on weights in Options and write a number after an asterisk:

• Ana *3 — three chances
• Benjie *1 — one chance
• Carlo *2 — two chances

Ana now has three chances in six. This is the honest way to handle a raffle where people earned extra entries, and it is clearer than pasting a name three times.

Common questions

Other pickers

• Random student pickerThe same tool, set up for cold calling in class
• Random team generatorSplit the same names into balanced groups
• Random winner pickerDraws with a timestamped record you can publish
• Random order generatorPut every name in a fair order instead of picking one