How to use the wheel spinner
- Type your entries in the box, one per line: student names, restaurants, chores, prizes, teams. Blank lines and extra spaces are ignored. The wheel redraws as you type.
- Press Spin (or tap the wheel itself). The wheel turns for about four seconds and stops with the pointer at the top on the chosen slice; the result then appears under the wheel.
- Spin again as often as you like. Each spin is a new, independent draw from the whole list.
Your list is stored only in this browser, so the class list or the family chore rota is still there tomorrow. The Copy link button makes a link that opens the wheel with the same entries — handy for sharing a wheel with a co-teacher or projecting it from another computer. The entries travel in the part of the link after the # sign, which browsers never send to our server.
Is the wheel fair?
Yes. The winner is not decided by the animation or by when you press the button. When you press Spin, the page draws a number with crypto.getRandomValues, the cryptographically secure generator built into every modern browser, and uses rejection sampling so that each of the n entries has a chance of exactly 1 in n — with 8 names, 12.5% each. Only then does the wheel turn, landing at a random spot inside the winning slice. Nothing is sent to a server and nobody, including us, can steer the result.
Because spins are independent, the same name can win twice in a row; with 10 entries that happens 1 time in 10. Over many spins every entry comes up about equally often, but in a short session the spread is uneven. The table shows how likely it is that a given entry is picked at least once in 10 spins:
| Entries on the wheel | Chance per spin | Picked at least once in 10 spins |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 50% | 99.9% |
| 3 | 33.3% | 98.3% |
| 5 | 20% | 89.3% |
| 10 | 10% | 65.1% |
| 20 | 5% | 40.1% |
| 30 | 3.3% | 28.8% |
Ideas for using it
- Classroom: pick who answers next, who presents first or which question to review. Picking at random keeps everyone ready and avoids any sense of favoritism.
- Yes or no: enter “Yes” and “No” for a 50/50 decision, or add “Ask again later” for a magic-8-ball feel.
- Food and plans: list restaurants, recipes, movies or weekend activities and let the wheel settle the debate.
- Weighted choices: write an entry twice to double its chance. Three lines of “Pizza” and one of “Salad” gives pizza a 75% chance.
- Giveaways: one line per eligible entrant. Record your screen while you spin so participants can see the draw, and follow the rules of the platform where you run the contest.
Picking several winners without repeats
To draw without replacement — for example a first, second and third prize — delete the winner’s line after each spin and spin again. For long lists, number the entries and use the random number generator with “No duplicates” to draw several at once. For a single 50/50 call, flip a coin; for games, use the dice roller.
Frequently asked questions
Can the wheel be rigged?
Not on this page. The result comes from your browser’s secure random generator with an equal chance for every line, and it is drawn before the wheel starts turning, so the timing of your click cannot influence it. The only way to change the odds is visible to everyone: listing an entry more than once.
How many names can I put on the wheel?
Up to 500 lines. Past about 60 entries the labels become small, but the draw stays exactly as fair; the full name of the winner is always shown under the wheel.
How do I remove a name after it wins?
Delete its line from the box and spin again. The wheel redraws immediately with the remaining entries.
Is my list saved?
Yes, in this browser only (local storage), so it is there when you come back. Nothing is uploaded. Press Reset to clear it, or use Copy link to move the list to another device.
Does the wheel make a sound or work without internet?
It is silent. Once the page has loaded it needs no connection, and if you install the site as an app it works offline.
Last updated: October 14, 2026