Wheel of Names

One big wheel of names for the whole room

This wheel of names is built to be watched. Put it on the classroom projector, a stream overlay or the screen at an event, paste in every name, and let the crowd see each spin land. It starts with twelve sample names so you can try it, then you replace them with your own. It is free, runs in the browser, and there is no account to create.

How to spin the wheel of names

1. Open the Entries tab, delete the sample names, and paste yours, one per line. The wheel updates as you type.
2. Press Spin in the center, click the wheel, or press Ctrl + Enter.
3. The wheel slows down and stops at the pointer on the right. The dialog shows “The winner is” and the name.
4. Choose Done, Remove it, or Spin again.

Need to clean up a pasted list first? Shuffle, Sort and Remove duplicates sit right under the box.

Features for a crowd

Full screen

The full screen button turns the page into just the wheel and its controls. Names are easier to read from the back of a room, and a stream shows nothing but the spin. Press Escape to exit.

Mystery mode

In Settings, “Mystery wheel (hide labels)” puts a question mark on every slice. Viewers cannot track a name as it slows down, so the reveal stays a surprise until the dialog opens.

A title above the wheel

Type a title in Settings, such as “Friday book club host”, and it appears above the wheel and at the top of each result.

Weights

Press “Weights, labels and colors” to see each name as a row with its own weight and slice color. Raise a weight to give someone more chances, for example a viewer who has watched every stream this month. Lower it below 1 to give fewer. The slice size changes so everyone can see the odds.

Short labels and CSV files

Long names crowd a slice. In the same rows, the “Label on wheel” box lets you print a nickname or a viewer handle on the slice while the result still shows the full entry. For big lists, Import CSV reads a file with text, weight, color and label columns, and Export CSV writes your current wheel back out in that layout. That makes it easy to prepare a giveaway list in a spreadsheet before you go live.

Share link and saved wheels

The share button gives you a link that holds your names, title, weights, colors and settings. Send it to a co-teacher or a moderator and they open the identical wheel. The same box has an embed code if you want the wheel on your own website. The floppy disk button saves named wheels in this browser, so you can keep “Period 2” and “Period 5” side by side.

Faces on the wheel

“Add images” lets you upload photos. Each photo becomes its own slice, named after the file. Images stay in your browser and are not included in share links.

Who uses a shared name wheel

• Teachers. Project the class list, turn on automatic removal, and call on every student once before anyone gets a second turn.
• Streamers. Paste the names from a giveaway thread, go full screen, and run the draw live so viewers can see it is fair.
• Event hosts. Spin for door prizes from a sign in list, with sound and confetti on for the room.
• Teams at work. Decide who leads the standup or who brings snacks, with the wheel shared on a video call.

Fair for everyone watching

The winner is chosen with the browser’s cryptographic random generator before the wheel starts to move. The animation then lands on that slice, so how hard or when you click makes no difference. The Results tab keeps a tally and a numbered log of every winner, which you can copy and post afterward.

For tips on calling one name at a time, such as picking a student or a presenter, see the random name picker. To split the same names into groups, use the random team generator.