Random Pair Generator

The Random Pair Generator takes a list of names (or anything else, one per line) and pairs them up at random. It has two modes: match two separate lists against each other, or pair off the members of a single list. Choose how many pairs you want, press the button, and the pairs appear as lines you can copy in one click. It's the tool to reach for when you need partners for a class activity, a doubles bracket, a peer-review swap or a "who cooks with whom" night, and you'd rather nobody accuse you of rigging it.

The two pairing modes

Pair from two lists is the default. Put one list in the left box and another in the right, for example students and topics, or mentors and mentees. Every pair contains one item from each list, and no item is used twice in a run. The number of pairs you can make is limited by the shorter list; if list 1 has 12 names and list 2 has 9, you get at most 9 pairs and three names from list 1 sit out. The number box fills itself in with that maximum as you type, so you only need to lower it if you want fewer.

Pair from one list takes a single list and pairs its members with each other. Twenty names become ten pairs. With an odd count, one item is left out on each run, since the tool never makes a group of three. The maximum here is half the list, rounded down, and again the number box updates as you type.

In both modes each box shows a live count of how many lines it contains, blank lines are ignored, and the tool refuses to run with an empty list or a pair count that's higher than possible, telling you the maximum instead. Each press reshuffles from scratch, so pressing again gives a completely new set with no memory of the previous one.

What the output looks like

Results come out one pair per line in the form Alice - Bob. The order inside each pair is shuffled too, so the item from list 1 isn't always on the left. The Copy button puts the whole block on your clipboard as plain text, ready to paste into a spreadsheet, a chat or a slide.

Ways people use it

• Classroom partners. Paste the class roster into one-list mode and get partners for a lab or a reading exercise. Rerun it for the next activity so the same two people don't always end up together.
• Doubles tournaments. Pair players at random for the first round of table tennis, badminton, pickleball or a golf scramble. If you want teams larger than two, the Random Team Generator splits a list into any number of groups.
• Peer review and code review. Put reviewers in list 1 and pieces of work in list 2 so each reviewer gets one submission.
• Assigning things to people. Chores to housemates, presentation slots to speakers, dishes to potluck guests: anything where you have two lists and want a fair matching.
• Random couples for games. Dance partners, "random match" ice-breakers or improv scene partners, without anyone picking their friend.

A few things worth knowing about random pairing

The number of possible pairings grows fast. Ten people in one-list mode can be paired off 945 different ways; twenty people have over 654 million possible pairings. Two lists of ten have 3,628,800 possible matchings. That's why two presses almost never produce the same result, and also why you shouldn't expect the tool to avoid repeating a pair from last week: it has no history, so on any given rerun there's roughly a 1-in-(n−1) chance that a particular person is paired with the same partner again.

Two practical consequences follow. If you're running several rounds and want everyone to meet everyone, a random pairing isn't the right tool; you want a round-robin schedule, which you can build by hand from a list. And if you paste the same names into both boxes in two-list mode, the tool can pair a person with themselves, because it treats the two lists as unrelated. For a gift exchange, use one-list mode instead so each person is matched with a different person.

If you only need to pick a single winner or a single item, the Random Picker and the Random Name Picker are simpler. For draws with tickets or entries, use the Random Raffle Generator, and for a quick yes/no or first-mover decision, the Odd or Even Generator. All of these live under fun, party and decision tools.