Spin the Wheel

A name picker wheel with no limit on entries.

How does it pick? It uses your browser’s cryptographic random numbers, and your list never leaves this device. See how picks are made

Result

Spin the wheel and the name shows up here.

The link includes your list.

Picked so far

How to use it

Type one name per line in the list, or paste a whole column from a spreadsheet. A single line separated by commas is split for you. Press Spin in the middle of the wheel and the name under the pointer appears large on the right.

Remove and spin again takes the name that was just picked off the list and spins straight away. If you enter a name twice it gets two slots and twice the chance. That is the only kind of weighting here, and it is always visible on the wheel.

How many entries can it take?

The list accepts up to 5,000 lines. The wheel has been checked to spin smoothly with 500 slots. When there are too many slots to read the names, the result still appears large beside the wheel.

How the pick is made

Each spin creates a fresh seed from your browser’s cryptographic random numbers (crypto.getRandomValues). The winning slot is decided from that seed first, and then the wheel is turned so that it stops on that slot. The result is never read from where the wheel happened to stop, so the screen and the result cannot disagree. There is no setting that makes a chosen name come up.

The result link

Copy result link builds an address that holds your list and the seed. Anyone who opens it sees the wheel stop on the same slot again. The data sits after the # in the address, so it is not sent to a server, but whoever gets the link can read the list.

Questions

Can I make a certain name win?

No. That feature does not exist here. The only way to change the odds is one everybody can see, such as entering a name more than once.

Is my list uploaded anywhere?

No. The list and your recent results are kept in this browser only. Use the Clear button above the list to remove them.

Can I use it as a yes or no wheel?

Yes. Put Yes and No on two lines and spin. Any short list works the same way, such as lunch options or numbers.

Same list, another way

Ladder gameFollow a hidden ladder down to a result Name pickerDraw several names, deal slips or set an order Team generatorSplit the list into even teams

Guides

Is an online wheel spinner really random?Three things decide whether a wheel spinner is fair: where its random numbers come from, how they are turned into a slot, and whether the animation decides anything. Here is how Pickboard handles each.
How to pick winners from a list without repeatsA short, checkable way to draw several winners from a list: clean the list, draw once, keep alternates, and share a link that replays the result.
Ladder lottery (Ghost Leg): how it works and how fair it isA ladder lottery always gives everyone one result, but with a normal number of rungs people tend to land near where they started. We measured how much, and what fixes it.