Random Team Generator

How to use it

1. Add the namesType or paste everyone, one per line. To keep two people on the same team, write them on a single line joined by a plus sign, like Ana + Ben.
2. Choose the splitSay whether your number counts teams or people per team, then check or uncheck the pairs and captain options to match your game.
3. Make teams and share themPress Make teams, use Shuffle again for a new split, then Copy teams as plain text or use Present to give the teams more of the screen.

What the team generator does

• Works as a team randomizer for any list: choose a number of teams or players per team, and sizes never differ by more than one.
• Is a team maker with pairs kept together (Ana + Ben on one line) and an optional captain for each team.
• Shuffles again for a new draw, copies the teams for a chat, and shows them large with Present.
• Is not a team picker wheel: teams appear as lists. To spin players or captains one at a time on a wheel, use Spin on a wheel in the name picker.

What happens when you press Make teams

Your names are shuffled with the browser's cryptographic random numbers, then handed out one at a time to whichever team is smallest at that moment. For single names that is the same as dealing playing cards around a table, and it is why team sizes can differ by at most one person. Ten people in three teams become 4, 3 and 3, and nobody is left stranded in a team of one.

After the deal, the order of the teams and the order of names inside each team are shuffled once more, so the first team on screen is no more special than the last. Teams carry plain color names (Red, Blue, Green, Gold and so on up to twelve, then the same colors with a number), which makes it easy to shout "Teal, over by the door" across a gym.

Team sizes for common class and club numbers

The Split by menu has two modes. Choosing a number of teams is exact. Choosing people per team is a target: TwirlPick rounds the headcount divided by your number to find how many teams that implies, then splits evenly, so a leftover player never forms a team on their own. The table shows what to expect.

When the numbers cannot come out equal, the usual fix is a rotating role. Take one name out, make the teams, and let that person referee, keep score or swap in for whoever needs a rest.

Keeping pairs together

Check Keep pairs together and write linked people on one line with plus signs: Ana + Ben. That line moves as a block. You can chain three, such as Ana + Ben + Chen, for siblings who arrive as a set. Everyone else stays on a line of their own. With the box unchecked, plus signs are ignored as links and each person is treated as an individual.

Blocks make perfect balance harder, because a pair cannot be cut in half. Three pairs split across two teams gives 4 and 2. The tool places the largest blocks first, each onto whichever team is smallest at that moment, which keeps the gap as small as the blocks allow.

The opposite request, two people who must not share a team, is not part of this page. The group generator has a never-together rule; set its group size to your team size and run one round.

Captains and what the star means

With Pick a captain for each team checked, one member of every team gets a star. The choice is random inside each team, using the same fair numbers as the split, and it says nothing about skill or seniority. A star works well as a job: the captain chooses the team name, carries the answer sheet or speaks first at the debrief.

If your captain should be a particular person, such as a coach or the student who brought the equipment, uncheck the option and name them yourself. With the option on, Copy teams adds (captain) after that person's name, so the choice survives when you paste the teams into a message.

Balancing a mixed-ability group

A shuffle does not know who is strong. For a fairer spread, sort people into tiers first, say experienced, middle and newer. Put each tier in its own list and ask for the same number of teams every time. Then join one team from each tier into a final team. Since the order of teams is already random, any matching of tiers is fair, and every finished team gets a mix.

Tiers work best when each one has a multiple of the team count. If a tier has an odd person out, treat that person as the rotating role described above.

Where a quick team draw helps

In a classroom, a visible random split ends the ritual of captains choosing sides and the child who is picked last. Put the list on the projector, press the button, and let the colors tell everyone where to stand. A short sentence such as "teams are random, no swaps" before you press the button prevents most bargaining. Students who dislike the result get the same answer as everybody else, and that tends to calm complaints faster than any explanation.

For a five-a-side game after work, paste whoever turned up and ask for two teams, leaving captains on for the kick-off call. For a hackathon or a quiz night with fourteen guests, ask for teams of four or five and let the rounding handle the awkward remainder without anyone sitting out. Late arrivals and absences are easy to handle: delete a name and press Shuffle again before anybody has seen the first result.

For longer events with several stages, make the first split here, then use the group generator when you need fresh mixes in later rounds without people repeating the same partners. For a gift exchange, draw names with the Secret Santa generator instead.

Shuffling again, and where your list lives

Shuffle again produces a brand-new split, not a tweak of the old one. It is tempting to click until the teams look the way you hoped, but a result you keep rejecting is a result you are choosing. Agree in advance: one draw, or at most one redo, and say so out loud in a class or a league.

Your list never leaves the page. The latest names are kept in local storage on this device so they are still there after a reload, and the names are not uploaded. Copy teams puts plain text on your clipboard, one line per team, and Present hides the page around the teams for a projector; press it again to come back. To put one list in a running order instead, use the random order generator.