Random Team Generator
Paste your list, pick how to split it, get fair random teams — with a shuffle that's actually fair and names that never leave your browser. Built with classrooms in mind.
Spotted a mistake or have an idea? — errors get fixed and credited publicly.
Last reviewed: July 20, 2026 · Formulas verified by automated tests before every release.
How do I make random teams from a list of names?
Paste a list of names, choose the number of teams or the desired team size, and generate groups instantly. The shuffle uses a cryptographic randomness source, team sizes stay within one person of each other, and the list stays in your browser — it is not sent to CalcNotebook's servers, stored, or shared.
Number of teams vs team size
The two modes answer different classroom questions. Number of teams fits "I need 6 stations, fill them": 24 students → 6 teams of 4. Team size fits "lab benches take 4": 24 students → 6 teams, but 26 students → 7 teams of 4-4-4-4-4-3-3. We balance the remainder instead of creating one sad understaffed team.
Mixed teams from two groups
Sometimes plain random isn't the assignment — "every team should have both girls and boys" is a classic classroom requirement. The Mix two groups evenly mode does stratified assignment: each group is shuffled separately, then dealt so every team gets its fair share of both — 15 girls and 10 boys into 5 teams means 3 + 2 in every team, no exceptions. And deliberately, the tool never asks what your groups are: A and B can be genders, grade levels, language levels or departments. The meaning stays with you.
How to divide a class fairly
Random is the fairest method that exists: no accusations of favoritism, no popularity contest, no "why am I always with him". The visible shuffle does the social work for you — "the computer decided" ends arguments that "I decided" starts. When randomness produces a genuinely unworkable combination, click a name to move it quietly to the next team; one manual touch preserves both fairness and peace.
Random is not the same as balanced, though. This tool doesn't know who your strong readers are — and we believe it shouldn't: tools that rank students create exactly the dynamics group work is meant to avoid. If you need skill-balanced teams, randomize first, then apply your professional judgment with a couple of clicks.
Made for classrooms — and their privacy rules
Student rosters are sensitive data. This generator was built so there's nothing to review: names are processed entirely in your browser, never transmitted, never stored, never placed in a shareable URL, and masked from analytics recordings. It also embeds on a class page with the same guarantees — see the whole teacher's toolkit.
Methodology, privacy and limitations
- Formula: Fisher–Yates shuffle seeded by crypto.getRandomValues (rejection sampling — no modulo bias), then sequential deal into groups; sizes differ by at most one
- Assumptions: Every valid line is one participant; duplicates are kept but flagged. Random captains are chosen uniformly within each team. In mix mode each group is shuffled and dealt separately (stratified assignment): per-group and total team sizes both stay within one.
- Not included: Skill ratings, compatibility scoring or any ranking of participants — deliberately. Random assignment does not guarantee pedagogically balanced teams; that judgment stays with the teacher. Names are never stored or transmitted.
- Last reviewed: July 23, 2026 by the CalcNotebook team
Frequently asked questions
How do I split students into random groups?
Paste the names (one per line), choose either the number of teams or the people per team, and hit Generate. Names shuffle with a cryptographic algorithm and deal into groups whose sizes differ by one at most. Click any name to nudge it into the next team.
What happens to the names I enter?
Nothing — they never leave your browser. The list is not sent to our servers, not stored, not put in the URL, and not visible to analytics (input areas are masked in session recordings). Closing the tab erases everything.
What if the class doesn't divide evenly?
We balance instead of dumping the remainder: 10 names into teams of 4 gives 4–3–3, not 4–4–2. The header always states the actual sizes, and they never differ by more than one person.
Can I make mixed teams — for example, an even split of girls and boys?
Yes: tick "Mix two groups evenly", paste each group into its own list, and every team receives a fair share of both — within one person per group. It works for any two groups: girls/boys, seniors/juniors, native speakers/learners. Group labels exist only in your head; the tool never asks what the groups mean.
Can I pick team captains?
Yes — tick "Pick a random captain per team" and each team gets a ★ next to one randomly chosen member. Pre-selecting captains yourself and balancing teams around them is coming in a future version.