Make teams
How to use the random team generator
To use the random team generator, list one name per line in Entries, choose the number of teams and press Make teams. Each team appears in its own card, and a note explains any rule that could not be met. Teachers, coaches, managers and quiz hosts lean on it for the awkward parts: skill balance, captains, people who must stay apart and numbers that don't divide.
List the people
Replace the 12 sample names with your own, or paste a column from a spreadsheet. Each line becomes one person.
Choose the split
Under the wheel, pick Number of teams or People per team, then set a number from 2 to 100.
Add rules if needed
Open Balance by label, Captains, Keep together or apart, or Team names. Every one of them is optional.
Make teams
Press Make teams, read any notes, then Copy as text or Download CSV. Make new teams gives a fresh split.
The page opens with 12 sample players, 3 teams and Balance by label switched on, so the first press shows a balanced split straight away.
Class and work
Use it as a random group generator
For groups of a set size, choose People per team and type the size you want. The random group generator then works out how many groups it needs, and no group ends up bigger than that size.
A class of 28 shows how it works. Pairs give 14 groups of 2. Groups of 3 need 10 groups, so 2 of them run one short. Groups of 4 come out even, at 7 groups.
People per team is a maximum. The generator divides the people by the size and rounds up: 25 ÷ 4 = 6.25, so 25 people make 7 groups. Asking for more teams than there are people gives 1 team per person.
With an odd number, pairs leave one person alone: 9 people in pairs give 2, 2, 2, 2, 1. Set Number of teams instead, and 9 people in 4 teams give 3, 2, 2, 2.
| Group size | Groups | Sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Pairs | 14 | 2 each |
| Up to 3 | 10 | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 |
| Up to 4 | 7 | 4 each |
| Up to 5 | 6 | 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4 |
| Up to 6 | 5 | 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 |
PE and class teams
28 students into 4 relay teams of 7. Skill labels and keep apart even out the teams, or one-by-one mode lets the class watch them form.
Pick-up games
11 players into 2 sides of 6 and 5. Position labels such as Keeper spread the keepers, and random captains give each side a leader.
Work breakouts
18 people into rooms of 4: 4, 4, 4, 3 and 3. Department labels make sure each room mixes people from different departments.
Trivia nights
24 guests into 6 teams of 4. Team names add some fun, and keep together seats couples at the same table.
Team sizes
Team sizes when the numbers don’t divide
When the numbers don't divide evenly, the random team generator keeps every team within 1 person of the others, unless a keep-together group forces a gap. For example, 23 people in 4 teams become 6, 6, 6, 5: the generator fixes the number of teams first, then hands the leftover people to different teams.
| People | 2 teams | 3 teams | 4 teams | 5 teams | 6 teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 people | 5 each | 4, 3, 3 | 3, 3, 2, 2 | 2 each | 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 |
| 12 people | 6 each | 4 each | 3 each | 3, 3, 2, 2, 2 | 2 each |
| 16 people | 8 each | 6, 5, 5 | 4 each | 4, 3, 3, 3, 3 | 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 |
| 18 people | 9 each | 6 each | 5, 5, 4, 4 | 4, 4, 4, 3, 3 | 3 each |
| 20 people | 10 each | 7, 7, 6 | 5 each | 4 each | 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
| 22 people | 11 each | 8, 7, 7 | 6, 6, 5, 5 | 5, 5, 4, 4, 4 | 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3 |
| 23 people | 12, 11 | 8, 8, 7 | 6, 6, 6, 5 | 5, 5, 5, 4, 4 | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3 |
| 24 people | 12 each | 8 each | 6 each | 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 | 4 each |
| 25 people | 13, 12 | 9, 8, 8 | 7, 6, 6, 6 | 5 each | 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| 28 people | 14 each | 10, 9, 9 | 7 each | 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 | 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4 |
| 30 people | 15 each | 10 each | 8, 8, 7, 7 | 6 each | 5 each |
Ticked cells split evenly. Every size here comes from the same code the generator runs, so the teams you get will match.
| People | Setting | Teams | Team sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 people | 4 per team | 7 | 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3 |
| 22 people | 5 per team | 5 | 5, 5, 4, 4, 4 |
| 8 people | 3 per team | 3 | 3, 3, 2 |
Skill balance
How balancing by label keeps teams even
Balancing shares out each label as evenly as the numbers permit, so no team collects all the strongest players. A label is any word attached to a name: a skill level, a class, a year group or a position.
To add labels, open Balance by label and type one line per person, such as “Maya, Strong”. Labels stay in that box, so the wheel shows names only. “Name, label” lines pasted into the Entries box can move there with one button.
A random team generator that ignores labels often bunches strong players. The sample list has 3 Strong players among 12. In a split into 3 teams of 4 that ignores labels, they land one per team only 29.1% of the time. With balancing on, each team gets 1 Strong, 2 Mid, 1 New.
Labels ignore capitals, and people with no label form one more group, spread the same way. Every shuffle, tie-break and captain pick uses your browser's crypto.getRandomValues, the same generator the wheel uses. See how the wheel's randomness is tested.
- One Strong player per team29.1%
- Two of them on one team65.5%
- All three on one team5.5%
The split runs in 4 steps
- Shuffle. Everyone is shuffled at random.
- Order by label. The most common label goes first, with each label's people kept in a row.
- Place. Each person joins the team with the fewest people of their label. Ties go to the smaller team, then to a random one.
- Check. If any label differs by more than 1 between 2 teams, the generator starts again, up to 40 times.
Rules
Captains, keep-together and keep-apart rules
Rules come before balance: keep-apart rules first, then the size limit, then labels, then the smallest team. Keep-together groups are placed first, then captains, then everyone else.
Random captains
Each team gets 1 captain, picked at random from its own members.
Named captains
Type the names, and they spread 1 per team. With fewer captains than teams, some teams have none.
Keep together
One group per line, such as “Maya, Jamal”. Everyone on the line joins the same team.
Keep apart
One group per line. Nobody on the line shares a team with another name on it.
| Clash | Result |
|---|---|
| 2 people set to stay together and apart | They stay together, and a note says so. |
| A keep-apart line with more names than teams | Some of them share a team, and a note names them. |
| More named captains than teams | The first names typed become captains, 1 per team, and a note says so. |
| A keep-together group bigger than a team | The group stays whole, and team sizes become uneven. |
| Rules that block an even label spread | The rules win, and a note shows that label's count per team. |
| A name that is not on the wheel | The rule still applies to the other names, and a note flags the missing one. |
- 2 teams (12 each)47.8%
- 3 teams (8 each)30.4%
- 4 teams (6 each)21.7%
- 6 teams (4 each)13%
- 8 teams (3 each)8.7%
The random team generator tries up to 40 random orders, or 8 for lists over 2,000 people. If none meets every rule, it keeps the one with the fewest broken rules.
Draft mode
Spin teams one by one
One-by-one mode turns the random team generator into a draft: the person the wheel lands on leaves the wheel and joins the next team. Teams fill in turn, Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, then Team 1 again, so a class can watch each team form.
To start, choose Spin one by one, set the teams and press Start one-by-one teams. Then spin until the wheel is empty.
Balancing and keep rules don't apply in this mode, because each pick is a plain spin. The wheel draws each person with the same secure generator before the animation starts. Starting one-by-one teams turns Elimination mode off.
Draft controls
- Undo last pick puts the last person back on the wheel, and the same team picks again.
- Put everyone back returns every drawn name to the wheel in its original order.
- Random captains: the first person drawn to each team is its captain.
- Named captains join their teams before the first spin, and the turns carry on from the next team, so sizes stay even.
Compared
Is a random team generator fairer than captains picking?
Yes, for most groups, because a random split has no pick order for everyone to see. When captains choose, the last people picked know where they stand, and captains can favor friends. Chance removes both problems.
| Question | Captains choose | Random teams | Random teams with labels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides | 2 or more captains | Chance | Chance within each label |
| Last-picked moment | Everyone sees it | None | None |
| Skill balance | Depends on the captains | Left to chance | Each label within 1 per team |
| Friends grouped | Up to the captains | By chance | Keep apart can stop it |
One-by-one mode keeps the excitement of a draft, but the wheel makes every pick instead of a captain. The guide to splitting a group into fair teams compares more methods, such as counting off and skill-balanced splits.
Share the teams
Copy, export and save teams
Copy as text gives a plain list for a chat or email, and Download CSV saves a comma-separated values (CSV) file for spreadsheets.
Copy as text
Each team name with its members underneath. Captains are marked, and labels are left out, so skill levels stay private.
Download CSV
One row per person, with team, name, label and captain columns, ready for a spreadsheet or a gradebook.
Saved in this browser
Settings, labels, rules and the latest teams stay here for next time. Share links carry the names, not the team settings.
Turn off Show labels before projecting teams. To call on one person at a time instead, use the random name picker, and the main spin the wheel page handles any single pick.
FAQ
Random team generator FAQ
Is this random team generator free?
Yes. Every option is free, with no account. Names stay in your browser.
How do I split 10 people into 3 teams?
Set Number of teams to 3 and press Make teams. You get teams of 4, 3, 3.
How do I split 23 people into 4 teams?
Set Number of teams to 4. The teams come out at 6, 6, 6, 5, because 23 ÷ 4 leaves 3 people over and each goes to a different team.
Can I make pairs?
Yes. Choose People per team and set it to 2. With an odd number, 1 person is left alone, so set Number of teams instead: 9 people in 4 teams gives 3, 2, 2, 2.
How many teams can I make?
From 2 to 100. The same range applies to People per team. Asking for more teams than people gives 1 team per person.
Can I balance teams by skill?
Yes. Give each person a skill label, such as “Maya, Strong”, and keep Balance by label on.
Can I keep two people off the same team?
Yes. Put their names on one line under Keep apart, separated by a comma.
What happens if my rules conflict?
The teams still form, and a note explains which rule gave way. Keep-apart rules win over sizes, and sizes win over labels.
Last updated · Written and tested by Melissa T. Brown