Fun
Random Team Generator
Paste names one per line, pick how many teams you need, and the names are shuffled into balanced groups instantly.
0 names
Shuffles use your browser’s cryptographic random number generator. Nothing is uploaded.
Play and explore in your browser. No account needed.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when the names don’t divide evenly?
Teams are kept as balanced as possible — sizes never differ by more than one. 10 names in 3 teams gives 4, 3 and 3; 11 names in 3 teams gives 4, 4 and 3. Which teams get the extra member is part of the random draw, each team shows its member count, and a note above the teams points out when the sizes are unequal.
What is the difference between “Number of teams” and “Team size”?
Number of teams fixes how many groups you get. Team size fixes the target size and works out the number of teams by rounding up, then balances them — so 10 people with a team size of 4 gives three teams of 4, 3 and 3, not 4, 4 and 2. If you need every team at exactly the chosen size, use a headcount that divides evenly.
How does the captains option work?
With captains on, the first lines of your list — one per team — become captains, stay at the top of their teams and are marked as captains. They are not shuffled; only the remaining names are dealt out randomly beneath them. Put your chosen captains at the top of the list, in the order you want them assigned to Team 1, Team 2 and so on.
How random is the shuffle?
The list is shuffled with the Fisher–Yates algorithm using your browser’s cryptographic random number generator, so every ordering of the names is equally likely and nobody is favored by their position in the list. Re-shuffle produces a completely new, independent draw; editing the list also triggers a fresh shuffle.
Can I make teams that are balanced by skill?
The draw is purely random, so it does not know who is strong. A simple way to get skill-balanced teams is to use captains: put your strongest players at the top of the list as captains, so each team starts with one, and let the rest be shuffled. For finer balancing, run the generator separately for each skill tier and merge Team 1 with Team 1, Team 2 with Team 2.
How do I split a class into groups of 4?
Paste the class list, choose Team size and enter 4. A class of 28 gives seven groups of 4; a class of 30 gives eight groups — six of 4 and two of 3 — rather than seven groups of 4 plus one pair. Rename the groups if you like, then Copy all teams and paste the result into your slides or LMS.
About this tool
Paste names one per line and the generator deals them into teams immediately — there is no Generate button, and the teams update as you edit the list or change the numbers. Choose how many teams you want, or how many people should be on each, and the tool keeps team sizes within one person of each other. Each team card shows its member count and an editable title, so “Team 1” can become “Red” before you share it.
Worked examples. 12 players into 2 teams: two teams of 6. 12 players with a team size of 5: three teams of 4 — the tool rounds up to three teams and balances them instead of leaving a team of 2. 17 people into 4 breakout rooms: 5, 4, 4 and 4. 9 people into 3 teams with captains on: the first three names each lead a team and the other six are dealt two per team at random.
The shuffle uses the browser’s cryptographic random source with a Fisher–Yates pass, which makes every arrangement equally likely. That matters more for trust than for maths: when a draw happens in front of the group and anyone can press Re-shuffle, nobody can claim the teams were picked. The captain names are the one deliberate exception — they are placed, not drawn — which is the usual playground-captain setup.
Copy all teams produces plain text in the form “Red (4)” followed by one “- Name” line per member, with “(captain)” after captains — clean enough to paste straight into WhatsApp, Slack, Teams chat, email or a spreadsheet. Duplicate names are treated as different people, so add an initial if two people share a name. The list stays in the page only; nothing is uploaded or saved when you close the tab.