Random Pair Generator: Match Two Lists

This random pair generator takes two lists and matches them at random: every item in list A gets a partner from list B. Students and presentation topics, guests and gifts, roommates and chores, players and partners: paste both lists, press “Match at random” and a numbered table of pairs appears straight away.

Only have one list? Switch to “One list → pairs” and the tool splits your participants into random partners, with a group of three or one person sitting out when the number is odd. Everything runs in your browser, with no account and nothing uploaded to a server.

1. Type or paste list A, one item per line. A column copied from a spreadsheet, or a single comma-separated line, works too.
2. Do the same for list B. Tap a list title to rename it: “Students”, “Topics”, “Chores”…
3. Pick your options: what to do with lists of different sizes, forbidden pairs, keeping the order of list A, and whether to reveal everything at once or pair by pair.
4. Press “Match at random”, or Ctrl+Enter on a keyboard. The result shows up as a numbered table.
5. Want another go? “Draw again” runs a completely new draw with the same settings.

The example buttons fill the tool in one tap so you can see what it does. Your lists and options stay saved on this device for next time.

With two lists of the same length, every item is used exactly once. Otherwise you choose one of three rules. Say you have 10 students and 4 topics:

• Reuse the shorter list: everyone gets a match. The 4 topics are shared as evenly as possible: two topics go to 3 students and two go to 2 students, and chance decides which.
• Leave the extras unmatched: only 4 pairs, each topic used once. The 6 remaining students are listed under the table.
• Several A per B: every student gets a topic, and one topic can be handed out up to the maximum you set, for example 3. The split is not forced to be even here: it is left entirely to chance.

The preview line above the button tells you what will happen before you draw: how many pairs, how often an item can repeat and how many items will have no partner.

Some matches should never happen: a couple who would rather not work together, siblings, or last week’s pair. Add them under “Forbidden pairs”, one per line, written Emma = Liam. Capitals and accents are ignored, and the tool flags any name it cannot find in your lists. If the rules make a draw impossible, you get a clear message instead of a wrong result.

The “Never match an item with itself” switch stops a person from being paired with their own name when both lists hold the same people. In one-list mode the tool builds pairs among the participants; for groups of three or more, the random team generator is the better fit.

Classroom: students and topics

Give each student a presentation topic with no hint of favoritism, then put the table on the projector. With “One pair at a time”, every reveal builds a little suspense.

Gifts and swaps

Match each guest with a gift that has already been bought, for an office party or a family raffle. For a gift exchange where everyone buys for someone else, with private links sent to each person, use our Secret Santa generator instead.

Chores and duty rotas

Roommates and chores, colleagues and shifts: share out the whole list in one go. To pick just one chore each day, the chore wheel is quicker.

Sports: doubles partners

Make random doubles partners for tennis, badminton or pickleball in one-list mode, then run the competition with the tournament bracket generator.

Once every pair is revealed, copy the result as text for a chat message, download it as a CSV file for a spreadsheet, or print a clean sheet with the date of the draw. The share link holds the lists, the options and the draw itself, so whoever opens it sees exactly the same pairs. Your last 10 draws stay in the history on this device, so yesterday’s pairs are one tap away.

Yes. The randomness comes from your browser’s cryptographic generator, and each mode draws an arrangement uniformly: every valid matching has the same chance. When pairs are forbidden, a draw that contains one is simply thrown away and drawn again, which keeps that equality. Only a very long list of forbidden pairs makes the tool switch to a step-by-step random search, which can also prove that no solution exists. The method is explained in our fairness explainer.