How the team generator splits a list
Paste up to 500 names, choose a number of teams, a team size or pairs, and press Make teams. The list is shuffled with your browser’s secure random number generator and then split so team sizes differ by at most one.
Example: 14 names in 3 teams gives teams of 5, 5 and 4. Pairs mode makes twos, plus one three when the count is odd.
How to use it
Add the names
One per line, up to 500. A spreadsheet column pastes straight in, and a .txt or .csv file can be imported (from a .csv, the first column is used). The file is read by your browser and never uploaded. If the count shows duplicates, removing them keeps the first copy of each name.
Choose how to split
Number of teams gives exactly that many. People per team sets a maximum size and makes as few teams as it can. Pairs puts everyone in twos. A preview line, such as “3 teams of 4–5”, tells you what you will get first.
Make the teams
Press Make teams. Turn on captains if each group needs someone to lead, and click a team’s name to rename it. Not happy with the mix? Re-roll with the same settings.
Send them out
Copy the teams as tidy text for a chat, an email or a slide. A share link carries the names, the settings and the exact teams, so everyone who opens it sees the same result.
Where a random split helps
Classrooms
Group work goes better when students aren’t always with the same friends. Paste the class list once (it stays saved in this browser), split into threes or fours, and project the result. Pairs work for peer review and reading partners. If someone is absent, delete the name and re-roll.
Pickup games
Picking sides by hand leaves someone chosen last. A random split skips that and is quicker. Make two teams for a scrimmage, or set people per team for small-sided games and rotating courts. Captains can call plays or bring the gear.
Work and events
Mix departments in workshop breakouts, set up coffee pairings, form hackathon teams or seat trivia tables. Rename teams after rooms or table numbers, then paste the text into the invite so everyone knows where to go.
How the split stays even
The list is shuffled with a Fisher–Yates shuffle driven by your browser’s secure random number generator, so every ordering of the names is equally likely. The shuffled list is then cut into teams whose sizes differ by at most one. When the names don’t divide evenly, which teams get the extra person is also chosen at random, so Team 1 isn’t always the biggest.
With people per team, the tool uses the fewest teams that respect your maximum and keeps them level: ten people with a maximum of four become 4 + 3 + 3, not 4 + 4 + 2. Captains are drawn separately, and anyone on a team is equally likely to get the job.
The split is random, not skill-balanced; it has no idea who the strongest player is. If skill matters, make the teams, look them over, and re-roll until the mix looks right to you.
Questions people ask
What if the names don’t divide evenly?
Some teams get one extra person. Sizes never differ by more than one, and the larger teams are picked at random. In pairs, an odd list makes one group of three rather than leaving someone alone.
Do custom team names survive a re-roll?
Yes. Names are kept by position, so Team 1 stays “Red” after a re-roll. Clear a name to go back to the default.
Is my list saved or uploaded?
Saved in your browser’s local storage so it’s there next time, and never sent to us. A share link carries the list after the # in the address, which browsers don’t send to web servers. Details are in the privacy policy.
How many names and teams can I use?
Up to 500 names and 100 teams. Ask for more teams than there are names and each person gets a team of their own.
Can I pick one person instead?
Use the main wheel. It picks a single winner and can take each winner off the wheel so nobody is chosen twice.
Maintained by Aneeb Shinwari · Last updated