Secret Santa Generator & Spinner
Add names, mark who cannot draw whom, and get a private link for every person. No signup, no emails, and nothing is stored on a server.
Participants (5)
At least 3- Alice
Cannot give to
- Bob
Cannot give to
- Charlie
Cannot give to
- Diana
Cannot give to
- Edward
Cannot give to
Ready to draw
Add your participants, tick any exclusions, then press “Draw names”.
Secret Santa questions
How do the exclusion rules work?
Open “Cannot give to” on a person and tick everyone they must not draw: a partner, a sibling, or last year’s match. With “apply both ways” on, ticking Alice for Bob also ticks Bob for Alice. The draw always gives every person exactly one gift to buy and one gift to receive, and nobody draws themselves.
What if my exclusions make a draw impossible?
You will see a message instead of a draw. The tool searches every possible arrangement, so “impossible” means it truly cannot be done. Remove an exclusion or two and draw again.
How do the private links work?
Each link contains only that one person’s match, packed into the address itself. Nothing is saved on our servers. Anyone who has the link can see that match, so send each link only to the person it belongs to. The organiser who generates the links can see them too; if you want to be surprised as well, do not open them.
Do participants need an account or email address?
No. You type names, draw, and share links by whatever messaging app you already use. Nothing is uploaded.
Is the draw random and fair?
Yes. Matches come from the same cryptographically secure random source as every WheelWhirl wheel, and the solver tries receivers in a random order, so no one is favoured.
More holiday ideas: white elephant order wheel, Christmas gift ideas wheel and the full holiday wheel hub.