Multiple Random Picker
Picks N unique items from your list.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last checked
The Multiple Random Picker draws several items at once from any list you paste in. Choose whether picks are unique (without replacement) or can repeat (with replacement), which makes it handy for everything from selecting a few giveaway winners to dealing out cards. Because the draw uses your browser's Web Crypto API, every subset is equally likely.
Paste. Paste or type your items, one per line, into the list.
0 items
Click Pick to see a result.
Options
Recent results
- No history yet.
How it works
- Paste. Paste or type your items, one per line, into the list.
- Set. Set how many items to draw and whether to allow replacement in the Options.
- Pick. Click Pick to draw your selection.
- Re-roll. Click Pick again any time you want a fresh draw.
About the Multiple Random Picker
With or without replacement — the option that changes everything
By default the picks are distinct: ask for three and you get three different entries. Tick Allow repeats and each pick becomes an independent draw from the full list, so the same entry can come up more than once.
These answer genuinely different questions. "Three winners" needs distinct picks. "Three dice rolls" or "three random samples with the item put back" needs replacement. Choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake made with this kind of tool, and the output looks perfectly plausible either way.
Asking for more distinct items than the list contains simply returns the whole list in random order rather than erroring — it cannot invent entries.
Why repeated single picks are not the same thing
Pressing a single-item picker three times is not equivalent to drawing three distinct items. Each press starts fresh, so the same name can come up twice, and with a list of ten the chance of at least one collision across three draws is not far off a third.
If duplicates would be a bug, use this tool with replacement off. If duplicates are just a coincidence you would shrug at, repeated single picks are fine.
Getting a draw you can show people
- Set a Seed when the draw needs to be reproducible — same list, same seed, same winners.
- The CSV export numbers the picks, which is what you want when the order of the winners means something.
- Duplicate lines in the input are separate entries even with repeats off, so the same name can appear twice legitimately.
- For weighted draws — some entries more likely than others — use the weighted picker instead.
Frequently asked questions
What is replacement?
With replacement, an item can be picked more than once. Without replacement, each pick is unique — that's the default.
Is the order significant?
No. The displayed order is just the order in which items were drawn, but every possible subset has an equal chance of being chosen.
Is it really random?
Yes. Picks come from the Web Crypto API (crypto.getRandomValues), which produces cryptographically sound, unbiased results — no predictable patterns.
Does my list get sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs entirely in your browser, so your list is never uploaded to any server, and the tool works offline.
Related randomizers
Further reading
- Pick several names at once, not one slow draw at a time
When you need three winners or five volunteers, drawing them one by one invites doubt and double-takes. Here's how a multiple random picker deals a whole batch of unique names in a single click, and when to allow repeats.
- Draw a random-sized sample from a list, not just a fixed number
Sometimes you don't want exactly five — you want "a few, but I don't want to decide how many." Here's how a random subset picker draws both the size and the members of a sample, and when that beats picking a fixed count.
- Pick one thing at random from any list — fairly
When a group can't agree on who goes first or which option wins, the honest move is a flat, equal-odds draw. Here's how a random single picker does exactly that, plus the no-repeats and seed options that make it more than a coin flip.
- Draw a random card when you don't have a deck handy
Playing cards, jokers, or a tarot spread — an online card draw gives you a genuinely shuffled pull without a physical deck. Here's how a fair digital draw works, what 'without replacement' means, and where reversed tarot fits in.
- Shuffling a list without bias: the one-line mistake almost everyone makes
The most popular way to shuffle a list on the web is also subtly broken. Here's why sort-by-random gives you a lopsided order, what a fair shuffle actually looks like, and when you want a shuffle versus a draw.