Make random teams

To make random teams, paste everyone's name into the free random name picker, one per line. Set Winners per pick to the team size, keep Remove the winner after each pick ticked, and click Pick a name. Each pick draws a whole team at once and takes those people off the wheel, so the next pick builds the next team from whoever is left. Nobody lands in two teams, and nobody can say the captain chose their friends.

Picking teams by hand is where group work goes wrong before it starts. Captains pick their friends, the same quiet students get chosen last, and the "strong" table always ends up together. A random team generator fixes that in one move, and it's quicker than counting off around the room.

Как это сделать use the random team generator

1. Open the free random name picker.
2. Delete the sample names and paste your list into Names, one per line. A column copied from a spreadsheet or register works; each row becomes one line. The counter shows how many are on the wheel.
3. Set Winners per pick to the number of people per team, for example 5.
4. Check that Remove the winner after each pick is ticked. It is ticked by default in the name picker.
5. Click Pick a name. The wheel spins and the result box lists 5 names: that's Team 1.
6. Click Pick again. The 5 names you just drew come off the wheel first, then the next 5 are drawn: Team 2.
7. Don't edit the names between picks: changing the list cancels the removal of the last team, so its members would go back into the draw. Keep going until everyone is placed. The Results list on the right keeps the last 20 names, newest at the top, but it's safer to write each team on the board or in a doc as it appears.

The draw is made with your browser's secure random source, and every name still on the wheel has the same chance. The spin animation is just for show: the winners are chosen first, then the wheel turns to land on them.

Working out the team size

Divide the number of people by the number of teams you want. If it doesn't divide evenly, you have two choices: round up, so the last pick is a smaller team, or round down, so a few people are left over to add to existing teams.

People	Teams wanted	Winners per pick	What you get
24	4	6	Four teams of 6
30	6	5	Six teams of 5
27	4	7 (rounded up)	7, 7, 7, and a last pick of 6
32	5	6 (rounded down)	Five teams of 6, then 2 left over

When there are only a few people left, you don't need to pick them. In the 32-person example, the last 2 names can each join a team: spin the wheel with the team names (Team 1 to Team 5) to decide which ones get a sixth member, so that's random too. The free wheel spinner is good for that.

The fastest way for big groups: shuffle and count off

With 60 or 90 people, picking a team at a time gets slow. Shuffle the list once instead:

1. Paste the names into the free alphabetizer and choose Shuffle in the Sort menu.
2. The Result box shows the whole list in a random order.
3. Take the first 5 lines as Team 1, the next 5 as Team 2, and so on.

Every order is equally likely, so this is exactly as fair as picking team by team. Our guide on how to shuffle a list randomly explains why. The name picker holds up to 200 names; the alphabetizer handles much longer lists, which makes it the better choice for a whole year group.

Fair doesn't always mean random

Pure randomness can still produce a lopsided team now and then: all four of the strongest players together, or a team with nobody who speaks the main language of the project. If balance matters, use a light-touch method that still keeps the draw random:

• Seed the captains first. Put the 4 strongest players (or 4 volunteers who will lead) on their own wheel, and give one to each team. Then draw the rest with the picker as usual.
• Draw from groups. Split the class into two lists, for example Year 7 and Year 8, or new staff and long-timers. Pick 3 from the first list and 2 from the second for each team.
• Separate people who shouldn't be together. Treat them like captains: take both names off the list before the draw, place them in different teams yourself, and let the picker fill in everyone else.

Tell the group what you did before you draw. "Captains are fixed, everyone else is random" is easy to accept; a quiet re-draw because you didn't like the result isn't.

Ideas for using random teams

Use Winners per pick = 2 for lab partners or pairs. The same draw suits quiz nights, sports days, office icebreakers, weekly study groups and debate sides. For a classroom, add a countdown timer so each team gets the same time; see classroom timer ideas.

Save the class list for next time

Click Copy link after you paste the names. The list is stored inside the link itself, so you can bookmark it or paste it into your lesson notes, and next week the wheel opens with the same class ready to go. The names aren't saved on our servers; they only travel in the link if you share it.

Make your teams now

Paste the names, set the team size, and pick team by team, live on the projector so everyone sees it's fair. The free random name picker runs in your browser, needs no account, and keeps your class list on your device.