How it works
Paste a list and it comes back in a random order, with a number beside every item. Press Shuffle the list for another order. That is all it takes to randomize list order for presentations, reading turns, quiz questions or the line at the door. Then press Copy the list or Print the list. Whatever you type stays in this browser.
Read the full guide
What goes in and what comes out
Type or paste one item per line: student names, team names, vocabulary words, quiz questions, chores, anything up to 80 lines of 120 characters. Blank lines are dropped, and so is a line that repeats another exactly, so two students called Alex need an initial. Every item comes back once, in a new order, numbered from 1, and Shuffle the list deals another. Nothing is left out and nothing appears twice, which is the difference between shuffling a list and picking from it. The list you typed is kept in this browser, so it is still here next week.
Where a shuffled list earns its place in a classroom
Presentation order is the classic case: put the numbered list on the board and nobody can claim the order was chosen. The same goes for show and tell, reading aloud, turns on the class computers and the order for picking teams. Paste the questions of a quiz and shuffle them to make a version B for the desk next door. Shuffle a spelling list so the test is not in the order it was studied. Shuffle the class, then read the list off in pairs for instant partners.
How the shuffle works
The tool uses the Fisher-Yates shuffle. Ronald Fisher and Frank Yates described it in 1938 as a pencil and paper method, and Richard Durstenfeld published the computer version in 1964. It walks through the list from the end, swapping each item with one chosen at random from those not yet fixed, itself included. Done that way, every possible order is as likely as every other. The obvious shortcut, swapping each item with any position at all, is not fair. With 3 items it has 27 equally likely paths but only 6 possible orders. Since 27 does not divide by 6, some orders come up more often.
- Do not reshuffle because the result looks wrong. Once you press again for a better order, the order is yours and no longer random.
- If certain students must not work together, use the random group generator, which has keep-apart rules.
- Shuffling quiz questions? Number them after the shuffle, not before, or the old numbers give the original order away.
- Print the list or copy it somewhere if the order matters for more than today, such as a presentation schedule that runs all week.
- For fair turns over a term, shuffle once, work down the list over several days, and shuffle again only when the last name has gone.
Questions and answers
How many different orders can a list have?
Multiply the number of items by every whole number below it. A list of 5 has 120 possible orders, a list of 10 has 3,628,800, and a class of 30 has a number of orders that is 33 digits long. With a full class you will never see the same order twice by chance.
Two names stayed next to each other, and one item did not move. Is the shuffle broken?
No. A random order is not the same as an evenly mixed one. In a fair shuffle of any list longer than a few items, there is about a 63 percent chance that at least one item lands exactly where it started. On average one item does. Neighbors staying together is just as ordinary. A tool that prevented these things would be less random, not more.
Is the order random enough for a prize draw?
It is random enough for a classroom: turn order, partners, presentation slots, a raffle at the class party. The shuffle method is fair, and the tool keeps no record of earlier results. It is not audited for anything with money or legal weight behind it, such as a paid raffle. Use a supervised physical draw for those.
Is my list saved or sent anywhere?
It is saved in this browser only, so that it is still here when you come back, and it is never sent to us or to anyone else. There is no account. On a shared computer, press Use the sample again, then Delete my list, before you leave.
What is the difference between this and a random name picker?
A picker draws one item at a time and is good for suspense: who answers next, who goes to the board. This page gives you the whole order at once, which is what you want for a schedule you can post, print or paste into a document.