Random Team Generator: Split Any List Into Fair Teams

1. 1Put your names on the wheel. Type one into Add a name, paste a list into Bulk edit, or use Import for a CSV, Excel or PDF file or a Google Sheets link. One wheel holds up to 1,000 names.
2. 2Open the Entries tab and set Teams or Max per team. The two boxes are linked: change one and the other is worked out. The line under them tells you the result, for example "8 names make 3 teams of 3 or 2."
3. 3Press Make teams, click the wheel, or press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac).
4. 4Read the Your teams board. Press Reshuffle to draw again with the same settings, or use Copy, CSV or Image to take the teams with you.

On phones and tablets the Teams and Max per team boxes sit under the wheel, and the options are in the Entries panel.

The generator spreads the names as evenly as it can. If the list does not divide evenly, a few teams get one extra person. Which teams get the extra person is also random.

Setting Max per team gives you as few teams as keep every team at or under that number. With 25 people and a limit of 6, you get 5 teams of 5, not 4 teams of 6 and one of 1. The smallest split is 2 teams, and the most teams you can ask for is one per person. You need at least two names.

Yes, if "team picker wheel" means a wheel that splits a group of people into teams. Pressing Make teams spins the wheel, and the board that follows shows all the teams at once. The wheel is the moment of the shuffle. It does not hand out one person per slice, and where the pointer stops does not decide the teams. The teams come from a shuffle of the whole list, done with the browser's cryptographic random number generator before the board opens.

Under the team boxes sit three switches. Each one is off until you press it.

• Keep together. Type one group per line, with the names split by commas. Each group lands in the same team. Groups that share a name are merged into one.
• Keep apart. Type one group per line. While there are enough teams, no two people on a line share a team. If a line is longer than the number of teams, the group is spread as evenly as possible.
• Pick a leader. One random person in each team is marked as the leader.

Names in the rules are matched to the names on the wheel, and capital letters do not matter. A name that is not on the wheel is left out, and the panel lists it so you can fix a typo.

Keep apart doubles as a way to balance teams. Put your four strongest players on one line and, with four teams, each team gets one of them. With two teams, each gets two. The tool has no skill scores, so you decide who goes on that line.

Some rules cannot be met together. A keep together group larger than a team is one example, and the tool says so instead of ignoring the rule. A rule set that cannot work with the number of teams you chose shows a message on the board and no teams.

After each draw, Your teams shows one card per team with its size and its people. A team name is a text box: click it to rename the team, and the new name stays when you reshuffle. With Pick a leader on, the leader has a crown and the word Leader.

Four buttons sit on the board:

• Reshuffle

  Draws again from scratch with the same names and settings.

• Copy

  Puts one line per team on the clipboard, such as "Team 1: Ana, Ben, Carlo", with "(leader)" after a leader's name.

• CSV

  Downloads a file with one row per person: Team, Name, and Leader when leaders are on.

• Image

  Downloads a PNG of the teams as cards. A very long list can be too large for one image, and the tool then suggests the CSV.

• Classroom groups. A teacher with 27 students and a limit of 4 per group gets 7 groups, six of 4 and one of 3. Switch on Keep apart for two students who struggle to work together, and switch on Keep together for a student who needs a particular partner.
• Sports and PE. Paste the roster and make two teams for a scrimmage. Put the best players on one Keep apart line so the sides are even, and turn on Pick a leader for the captains.
• Workshops and breakout rooms. Import the attendee list and set Max per team to 5. Rename the teams to room names, then copy the result into the chat.
• Office pairs and projects. Set the number of teams to half the headcount for pairs. Keep apart stops two people from the same department being paired.
• Game night. Add everyone's name, make two teams, and rename them. For something to play, try the Charades Generator, and for a first-turn decision flip a coin.

• It splits by names only. There is no skill field, age or gender setting, so balancing is manual through Keep apart.
• It does not set a different size for each team. All teams are as even as possible.
• It does not let people join a team themselves. You make the list.
• Weights, which exist on the wheel panel for other wheels, are not used when making teams.
• A name entered twice counts as two people, so press Remove duplicates first if your list has repeats.
• It does not save your names between visits. Copy or download the teams if you need them later.

• To pick one person, use the Random Name Picker.
• To choose which team goes first, use the Coin Flip or the Dice Roller.
• For acting games after the teams are set, use the Charades Generator.
• For a draw with any list you write yourself, use Spin the Wheel.