Random Name Picker / Giveaway Picker

How to pick random winners

Paste your entries one per line and the count updates instantly. Comment usernames from Instagram or YouTube, a name column from Excel or Google Sheets, or form responses all work. Choose how many winners and alternates you need, then press Draw winners.

• Names cycle quickly on the stage and stop on the first winner. Each press of Next reveals one more; after all winners, the alternates are revealed in order.
• For large draws, Reveal all shows every remaining result at once. There is no limit on the number of winners.
• Copy results copies the winners and alternates; Copy proof text adds the time, seed, hash and verification link, ready for your announcement post.
• Reloaded the page by accident? Show last draw again brings the same result back, as long as the same list is still in the box.

Cleaning up comments and spreadsheet lists

Your list is cleaned with the options below before the draw. The result is summarised as, for example, "152 lines → 140 entries (9 duplicates removed · 3 blank lines skipped)", and you can inspect every entry under Show cleaned list.

• Remove duplicates: keeps one copy of each username, so someone who commented several times is entered once.
• With duplicates allowed, people with more entries have proportionally better odds, but nobody can win twice: a name that has already been drawn is skipped.
• Strip leading @: counts "@mia" and "mia" as the same person.
• Use first column only: when you paste several spreadsheet columns or a CSV file, only the first field (usually the name or handle) is used.
• Trim spaces and Ignore blank lines tidy up stray whitespace from copying.

How the draw works (fairness)

The moment you draw, a 128-bit seed is generated with your browser’s cryptographic random number generator (crypto.getRandomValues), and a SHA-256 hash of the whole cleaned list is computed. The hash is a fingerprint: change one character or the order of entries and it changes completely.

The draw key is the first 128 bits of SHA-256 of "seed:listHash". It seeds the xoshiro128** pseudo-random generator, and a Fisher–Yates shuffle picks winners and alternates in order. Rejection sampling removes modulo bias, so with duplicates removed every entry has exactly the same chance.

Because the result depends only on the seed and the list, the same seed and list always produce the same winners, on any device. That is what makes the verification link possible. Everything is computed in your browser and the list is never uploaded.

Using the verification link and proof

After the draw, Proof of draw shows the time, the number of entries, the list SHA-256 and the seed. Post the verification link with your winner announcement and any participant can open it and check that the same result comes out.

Short lists can be embedded in the link so verification takes one click; the link then contains every username, so make sure that is acceptable before posting. For long lists, or if you leave it out, the link holds only the seed and hash. Verifiers paste the published entry list (such as the comment list) in the same order, and the tool checks the hash before reproducing the draw.

A verification link proves that this list and this seed produce this result. It cannot prove the host didn’t draw several times and publish the one they liked. For giveaways where trust matters, publish the entry list (or its hash) before the draw and record or livestream the draw in one take.

Tips for screen recording and live draws

Features designed to look good on video:

• Fullscreen shows only the stage. In fullscreen, press Space, Enter or the right arrow key to reveal the next winner, which is handy while streaming.
• A giveaway title appears on the stage, so the recording explains itself.
• Start recording, show the cleaned entry count first, then draw. Viewers can see the list wasn’t changed.
• If your device has “reduce motion” turned on, results appear immediately without the spinning effect.

Good practice for giveaways

When announcing winners, consider partially masking usernames to avoid exposing more personal information than necessary. This tool only performs the draw; prize delivery, taxes and other obligations of running a giveaway are the organiser’s responsibility, so check the rules of the platforms you use and any applicable local guidance.