How to use the spin the wheel tool
- Type or paste your names into the list, one per line. Every line becomes a slice of the wheel.
- Press the SPIN button, tap the wheel, press the space bar or swipe across it.
- The wheel slows down like a real one, the pointer clicks over every peg, and the winner appears in a pop-up.
- Use Remove winner to take the name off the list and spin again until everyone has had a turn.
Your list is saved on your device, so it is still there tomorrow. The same list also feeds the other tools on this site: the name picker, the group generator, the list randomizer and the giveaway picker.
What people use a random name picker wheel for
Teachers pick who answers the next question, and nobody can say the choice was personal. Streamers choose a viewer from the chat, and families settle whose turn it is to cook. Teams use a wheel to decide who presents first in a stand-up. Because the result is visible and takes a few seconds, it feels fair to everyone watching, and that is half the point of using a wheel instead of a quiet random number.
The wheel stays readable with many entries. With a long list the labels fade out, the slices keep their colours and the winner is still shown in full in the pop-up. It copes with several hundred names without slowing down.
Is the wheel fair? How the result is chosen
Fair means every entry has exactly the same chance. Here the winner is drawn before the wheel starts to move, using the random number generator built into your browser (crypto.getRandomValues). That is the same source browsers use for encryption keys, not the weaker Math.random. Numbers that would favour some slices are thrown away and drawn again, so there is no hidden bias towards the first or last name. The animation then lands the wheel on the slice that was already chosen. How hard you swipe or where you tap does not change the odds.
If you list a name twice, it gets two slices and twice the chance, which is useful for weighted draws. The duplicate warning under the list shows you when that happens by accident.
Good to know
Turn the click sound off with the speaker button, or go full screen to show the wheel on a projector. If your device is set to reduce motion, the wheel jumps straight to the result. Nothing is sent to a server: the list, the history and the sound setting stay in your browser. To share a list, use Share link; the names are packed into the part of the address after the # sign, which browsers never send to a website.
FAQ
Is this spin the wheel tool free?
Yes. There are no accounts, no limits and no ads between you and the wheel.
Can I spin the wheel with a lot of names?
Yes. Several hundred entries work. The labels disappear on very long lists, but the winner is always shown in full.
Does the wheel remember my names?
Your list is stored in your browser on this device. Clear it with the Clear button, or by deleting site data in your browser.
Can I use it on a phone or a projector?
Yes. It is built for small screens first, and the full screen button fills a projector or a TV.