Random team generator and turn picker

How to make random teams

1. Add the names. Type them or paste a list from a spreadsheet, a chat or a class register. One name per line works, and so do names separated by commas.
2. Choose how to split. Pick Number of teams when you know how many groups you need, or People per team when the group size matters, such as pairs or groups of four.
3. Make the teams. Press Make teams. If you want a different mix, press Shuffle again as many times as you like.
4. Share them. Copy the teams as text to paste into a chat, or copy a link that shows everyone the exact same teams.

Making a fair turn order

Choosing who goes first is a small decision that can feel unfair when the same person always ends up first or last. Make a turn order puts everyone in a random order where each person appears exactly once. Use it for stand-up updates, presentation slots, interview panels, reading aloud in class, or the order people answer an icebreaker question.

Because the order is random and visible to everyone, nobody has to volunteer and nobody is picked on. Copy the order into the meeting chat so people can see when their turn is coming.

When a random team generator helps

• Classrooms. Mix students beyond their usual friendship groups for group work, lab partners or study pairs.
• Workshops and training. Break a room into tables or a video call into breakout rooms in seconds, with no time lost deciding.
• Team building and hackathons. Build cross-functional groups so people meet colleagues they rarely work with.
• Sports and games. Split players into even sides for five-a-side, quiz nights or a board game evening.
• Rotas and reviews. Pair people for code review, peer feedback or buddy check-ins, and reshuffle each month.

Tips for better teams

Say up front that the teams are random. People accept a team they did not choose much more easily when they know nobody hand-picked it.

Decide the rules for a reshuffle before you start. If you are going to allow one reshuffle, say so. Reshuffling until one person is happy undoes the fairness for everyone else.

Keep teams small for discussion. Groups of three to five give everyone a chance to talk. In bigger groups, a few voices tend to take over.

Need to keep certain people apart, or spread out skills? Make the random teams first, then swap one or two people by hand and tell the group what you changed and why. Being open about it keeps the process fair.

Read more in our guide to splitting a group into fair teams, and warm the new teams up with an icebreaker question.

Your names stay private

The whole tool runs in your browser. The names you type are not uploaded, stored or seen by us. If you tick Remember this list on this device, your browser keeps a copy so the list is there next time; untick it to delete that copy. Share links keep the results after the # in the address, which browsers never send to a server.