Spin the wheel to choose one name or option at random. Type or paste entries, one per line, then press Spin, the centre of the wheel or the wheel itself. The wheel turns and stops on one entry, which appears under the wheel with buttons to remove it or spin again. Full screen fills the display with the wheel, which helps on a classroom projector, and the speaker button turns the tick sound off.
How to spin the wheel
- Replace the sample names in Entries, one per line, with your own. The counter above the box shows how many entries the wheel has. Blank lines are ignored.
- Pick a Spin length: Quick (3 s), Normal (5 s) or Long (8 s).
- Tick Remove each winner after the spin if nobody should be picked twice.
- Press Spin. The result shows under The wheel picked, with Remove from wheel and Spin again.
Each result is added to the Results list, which keeps the last 50 picks. Shuffle and Sort reorder the entries, and Clear empties the box.
How the wheel spinner picks
The winner is chosen before the wheel starts to turn, with your browser's cryptographic random number generator, the same source the Password Generator uses. Every entry has the same chance: one in eight when there are eight entries. The wheel is then turned so the pointer stops at a random spot inside the winner's slice, away from the edges, so the speed and slowdown of the spin play no part in the result. Spins run entirely in your browser, and nothing about them is sent to a server.
Ways to use the picker wheel
Random name picker
Paste a class list or a team roster and spin to choose who answers next, who presents first or who wins a prize. Tick Remove each winner after the spin and each winner leaves the wheel a moment after it is shown, so the next spin picks from the rest. That turns the wheel into a draw without repeats for prizes, presentation order or picking teams. The results list keeps every winner in order.
Spin the wheel yes or no
Type Yes on one line and No on the next for an even 50/50 choice. Add Maybe as a third line and each answer has a one in three chance.
Numbers, food and chores
Type 1 to 20 on separate lines for a number wheel, or list restaurants, films or household jobs. Any text works, up to 500 entries.
Giving entries different chances
To raise an entry's chance, add it more than once. For a raffle, add each name once per ticket: someone holding three of ten tickets gets three of the ten slices, a 30% chance. The Percentage Calculator works out the odds for any split.
Saving and sharing
Your entries and settings are kept in your browser, so they are still there the next time you spin the wheel on that device. Copy link makes a link with the entries in it, and anyone who opens it gets the same wheel. The entries sit after the # in the link, a part browsers don't send to the server, so they stay between you and the people you share the link with. One link holds several hundred short names.
In a classroom, turn the link into a code with the QR Code Generator so students can open the same wheel on their phones. The guide to free QR codes explains why a static code like this one doesn't expire.
Limits to know
- The wheel takes up to 500 entries. Above about 160, slices are too thin for labels, so the names are hidden but still picked fairly.
- Long entries are shortened on the wheel. The winner banner shows the full text.
- If your device is set to reduce motion, each spin lasts one second.
More quick tools for school and office jobs are in Everyday Tools.
