Random Picker
Paste any list, one item per line, say how many you need, and get a random selection with no duplicates.More Fun, Party & Decision Generators
The Random Picker takes a list you paste in, one entry per line, and picks however many of them you ask for. Paste 30 names and ask for 3, and you get 3 different names. Paste a dozen restaurants and ask for 1, and dinner is decided. The picks are shown as cards and a Copy button puts them on your clipboard, one per line.
It's the general-purpose version of the site's pickers: it doesn't care whether your lines are names, tasks, chores, movie titles or email addresses. If it's a line of text, it can be picked.
How it works
- Enter items. Type or paste into the box, one item per line. Blank lines are ignored, and the counter next to the label shows how many items you've entered.
- Number of items to pick. Any whole number from 1 up to the size of your list. Ask for more than you entered and the tool tells you instead of padding with repeats.
- Pick. The list is shuffled and the first N entries are returned. That means picks within one run are always distinct; the same name can't win twice. Press again for a fresh shuffle.
- Copy. The copy button grabs all picked items as plain text with one per line, ready to paste into a spreadsheet or message.
Items are not deduplicated, so if a name appears on three lines it has three times the chance of being picked, and could be picked more than once if you ask for several. Trim the list first if that matters. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere; the shuffle happens in your browser.
Typical jobs for a list picker
- Choosing a winner. Paste the entrants and pick 1, or pick 3 for first, second and third place. If you're running a proper draw with ticket numbers, the Random Raffle Generator is built for that.
- Calling on students. Paste the class roster once and pick one name per question. Because each press is a fresh shuffle, students already called can come up again; the Random Name Picker is the name-specific alternative.
- Deciding what to watch, eat or do. Ten options, pick 1. It ends the "I don't mind, you choose" loop faster than a vote.
- Assigning chores or tasks. Paste the task list, pick as many as there are people, and hand them out in order. For splitting people into groups instead, use the Random Team Generator.
- Sampling for testing or review. Paste 200 order IDs or URLs and pick 20 for a spot check. The copy button makes this quick.
Picker vs. list generator vs. pairs
This tool selects from a list you already have. If you want the whole list back in a random order rather than a subset, the Random List Generator shuffles everything. If you want people matched up two at a time, the Random Pair Generator handles that. And when the decision is really a yes/no or a coin toss, the Odd or Even Generator is simpler than typing two lines. You'll find the rest under all fun, party and decision tools.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a limit on how many items I can enter?
No fixed limit. The textarea takes as many lines as you paste, and the counter shows the total. Lists of a few thousand lines work fine because the shuffle runs in your browser.
- Can the same item be picked twice?
Not within one press, unless it appears on more than one line of your input. Each press shuffles the list and takes the first N, so the N results are always different lines. Across separate presses, anything can come up again.
- Does it separate items by comma?
No, only by line breaks. If your list is comma-separated, replace the commas with new lines before pasting. Blank lines and lines of only spaces are skipped.
- Is the pick fair?
Every line has the same chance. The tool uses the browser's random number generator to shuffle, which is fine for classroom draws, giveaways among friends and everyday decisions. For a legally regulated lottery you'd want an audited system.
- How do I pick from a numbered range instead of a list?
Use the Random Number Generator for that; this page needs the items written out one per line. For 1 to 10 you can just type ten lines, but for a large range a number generator is quicker.