Picking teams by hand takes time and someone always feels left out. Paste your list of names, choose how many teams you want or how many people go in each one, and the generator shuffles everyone into fair, random groups. It works for classrooms, five-a-side football, pub quizzes, work breakout rooms and game nights.
Two Ways to Split a List
You know how many groups you need
- 4 tables at a quiz night
- 2 sides for a match
- 6 breakout rooms
You know how big each group should be
- Pairs for a class project
- 5 players for basketball
- Groups of 3 for a workshop
With "Keep teams balanced" on, team sizes never differ by more than one person. Turn it off when splitting by team size if you'd rather have full teams and one smaller group with the leftovers.
Extras for Game Day
Switch on "Pick a captain per team" to mark one random person in each group as captain, which is handy for picking who reports back or chooses a team name. "Fun names" swaps Team 1, 2, 3 for names like Thunder Owls and Rocket Llamas. Want more? Our team name generator and trivia team name generator come up with names that fit your group.
- Remove anyone who is absent before you shuffle
- Show the teams on a projector so everyone sees it was random
- Copy all teams into your group chat in one go
- Reshuffle until you get the teams you wanted, since people notice
- Ask for more teams than you have people
Common Questions
How do I split a list of names into random groups?
Paste the names one per line (or separated by commas), choose the number of teams or people per team, and press Make teams. Press Reshuffle for a new random split.
Are the teams really random?
Yes. Names are shuffled with a Fisher-Yates shuffle in your browser before being dealt into teams, so every arrangement is equally likely.
What happens when the names don't divide evenly?
With balanced teams on, the extra people are spread out so some teams have one more member than others. With it off in people-per-team mode, the leftovers form one smaller final team.
How many names can I add?
Up to 500 names. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere, so copy your teams before you leave the page.
Can it come up with team names?
Yes. Pick "Fun names" for a built-in list, or make your teams and use "AI team names" with an optional theme, such as space, dinosaurs or an office quiz night, for a fresh set that matches. AI names stay when you reshuffle (sign-in required).