Random picker

Pick winners at random from a list.

How many to pick No duplicates

Enter a list and draw.

A giveaway closed last night and there are four hundred entries in a spreadsheet column. Or it is a much smaller question - who presents first, who takes the late shift, which of the six restaurants everyone keeps arguing about. Paste the list, say how many you need, and draw.

How it works

How the list is read

Everything is entered one item per line. Leading and trailing spaces are trimmed and blank lines are dropped, so a list pasted straight out of a spreadsheet usually works as-is. Two entries with identical text are treated as two separate candidates - which is the simplest way to give someone a double chance.

The two settings

Setting	What it does
How many to pick	The number of results drawn, one or more
No duplicates (on by default)	Each name drawn is removed from the pool, so nobody can appear twice
No duplicates (off)	Every draw looks at the whole list again, so the same name can come up more than once

With no duplicates on, this is the same as shuffling the list and dealing off the top: each remaining candidate is equally likely at every step. Asking for more picks than there are entries simply returns everyone, in a random order. With it off, each pick is independent - like rolling the same die several times.

How random it is

The draw uses the browser's built-in Math.random, a pseudorandom generator. It has no preference for the top or bottom of your list, for longer names, or for anything you can see, and it is perfectly reasonable for a giveaway, a seating order, or deciding who does the washing up.

It is not, however, an auditable process. If the outcome has legal or financial weight - a regulated prize draw, a formal ballot - use a method your rules allow, with witnesses or a certified source of randomness, and keep a record.

One practical caution

Nothing is saved. The list lives in the page and disappears on refresh, so if the result matters to other people, take a screenshot or paste the winners somewhere before you close the tab.

Terms explained

Pool: The set of candidates still eligible to be drawn. With no duplicates on, it shrinks by one after each pick.
Without replacement: Drawing so that a chosen item is not put back - what the no-duplicates setting does.
With replacement: Drawing so that every pick sees the full list again, allowing repeats.
Pseudorandom: Produced by a deterministic algorithm that yields evenly spread, unpredictable-in-practice results.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask for more picks than there are names?

Yes. With no duplicates switched on you will simply get every entry back in a random order, since the pool runs out. With it switched off you can draw any number you like, and names will repeat.

Is my list stored or sent anywhere?

No. It stays in the browser tab and is never uploaded. Refreshing or closing the page clears it, so copy the result somewhere if you need to keep it.

Can I give one person better odds?

Enter their name on more than one line. Each line is a separate ticket, so two lines is roughly twice the chance of one - the same way paper raffle tickets work.

Is the draw genuinely fair?

Every entry has the same chance, and position in the list makes no difference. The underlying source is the browser's pseudorandom generator, which is fine for casual and internal draws but is not certified randomness for a regulated prize promotion.

Does capitalisation or spacing matter?

Spaces at the start and end of a line are removed, and empty lines are ignored. Beyond that, entries are compared as written, so "Alex" and "alex" are two different candidates.