How to run a name wheel
Use this random wheel for classroom turns, choosing a team activity, picking a discussion topic or making a casual decision. Paste names or choices into the box, one entry per line, and press Spin the wheel. The pointer at the top identifies the selected slice; the full winning name appears below. The initial names are an editable example. Focusing that example clears it so you can type your own list. Leaving the field empty restores the example, but it does not invent a winning result.
Prepare the list and understand the odds
Leading and trailing spaces are removed and blank lines are ignored. Other text, including punctuation and emoji, is retained. Each non-empty line is one equally likely entry. Duplicate names are deliberately kept: Alex on two of six lines has two chances out of six, while a name appearing once has one. Review the list before drawing if that is not what you intend. This tool does not identify people, merge spelling variations or assign custom weights.
Spin, remove and repeat
Press the main button or use Ctrl+Enter (Command+Enter on Mac) in your list. The list and another spin are disabled while the wheel turns. Clear can cancel a running draw and reset the visit. With one entry, that entry wins immediately. Remove winner deletes only the exact line that won, even if another line has the same name. You then choose when to spin again. Removing the last entry leaves an empty wheel, with no further draw until you add an entry.
How the wheel selects a winner
The browser generates random numbers with its built-in cryptographic random source. Values outside an even division of the available range are discarded, so every line gets the same probability. The outcome is chosen before the animation. The wheel then finishes with the center of that exact slice under the pointer. The animation does not change the odds, and reduced-motion mode displays the same kind of result immediately without rotating. No sound is played.
Example: four distinct choices
Enter Reading, Drawing, Music and Walking on four lines. The preview has four equal slices and each entry has a 25% chance on each draw. If Music wins and you remove it, the next wheel has three choices, each with a one-in-three chance. Reading is not guaranteed to win after several losses: previous outcomes do not force a later result.
Example: duplicate names and the final entry
Enter Alex, Alex and Sam. Each line has a one-in-three chance; Alex has two chances overall. If an Alex line wins, Remove winner leaves one Alex and one Sam, now equally likely. Another removal leaves one entry that wins with certainty. Removing it empties the wheel. Empty lines never create hidden slices. These examples describe possible outcomes, not a fixed or preselected winner.
Read and save your results
The history shows the latest 100 completed draws from this visit, newest first. Copy results puts the retained results into plain text in draw order, with each original round number and the number of entries in that draw. Save results downloads the same information as a UTF-8 text file. Editing the list clears the current winner and resets the visual wheel, while previous draw records remain. Clear erases both list and history. Save what you need before reloading, switching languages or leaving, because this tool has no persistent draft or shared session.
Limits and troubleshooting
There can be at most 30 entries, each at most 100 Unicode characters. A paste fills the remaining places up to 30 entries. Only excess entries are omitted, with a red notice; existing entries outside the selected text are preserved. The limit keeps a name visible on every slice. Long names are shortened with an ellipsis on the wheel. The full names remain in your list and in the result. If clipboard access is unavailable, use Save results. Processing stays in your browser. This casual picker does not provide certified evidence, a public audit trail, remote participants or prize payments.
FAQ: Are repeat winners possible?
Yes. A winner stays in the list until you remove that entry. Repeated spins without removal sample the same list and can choose the same line again.
FAQ: Does changing the list rewrite history?
No. It invalidates the current winner so you cannot remove the wrong line. Existing history remains a record of earlier lists until Clear or leaving.
FAQ: Can I stop the wheel on a chosen name?
No. Clicking again cannot steer or restart a running spin. Clear cancels the draw and discards results, rather than choosing another winner.
FAQ: Can other people join this wheel online?
No. The list and history exist in this browser tab. You can show the page or share the exported text yourself, but there is no live shared draw.