Random Team Generator

How to make fair teams

Paste or type your list of names, then choose either the number of teams or the number of people per team and press Generate. The list is shuffled with a cryptographic shuffle before it is split, so which team each person lands on is random.

Because the shuffle is unbiased, every possible split is equally likely. Nobody can choose partners, and nobody can say the teams were picked on purpose, which is the main reason to use a generator instead of picking captains.

Teams by number or by size

Choosing the number of teams is best when you have fixed stations or colors, such as four lab groups. Choosing the size is best when the activity needs a set number of players, such as pairs for partner reading or groups of five for a game.

If the names do not divide evenly, the numbers differ a little. When you choose the number of teams, the people are dealt out in turn, so 14 people in three teams give teams of five, five and four. When you choose the team size, teams are filled to that size and the last team holds whoever is left. Decide in advance how you want to handle a smaller team, for example by giving it a small advantage in a competition.

Tips for classrooms, sports and work

In a classroom, regenerate for each activity so students work with different people over time. For sports, a random split is a quick way to make scrimmage teams, and you can run it again if the result looks unbalanced for a fun reason, such as all the goalkeepers on one team.

If you need balanced skill levels, split the list into pools first (for example by level), generate teams within each pool and combine one group from each. At work, use random teams for hackathons, workshops and breakout rooms to mix people from different departments.

Privacy

The names you enter stay in your browser and are not stored on our servers. You can copy the teams with the copy button and paste them into a message, a document or a shared screen.