Random name generator in Excel

Do you need a simple random name generator in Excel to quickly select winners offline?  Here is a guide on how to do it yourself. It can be used as a lucky draw generator, raffle generator and you can randomize any items, not only select winners.

A simple guide on how to make the random name generator using Excel

Type or copy your list, each name comes into a separate row.

Put the following formula into a cell in the second column (B):

=INDEX($A:$A;RANDBETWEEN(1;COUNTA($A:$A));1)

This screenshot clarifies everything:

What does the formula do? Let’s split it into several parts to explain how the randomizer works:

• COUNTA($A:$A) – this part counts the number of your participants or entries in the first column (and excludes empty cells)
• RANDBETWEEN(…) – generates a random number between 1 and the count of your entries (calculated in the previous step)
• INDEX(…) – returns the value of the randomly selected item from the first column.

Every time you do some action, Excel recalculates all formulas and you will get a new winner.  You can also do the recalculation manually – just press F9.

Download the excel template with the formula: Excel-Randomizer.xlsx

You can read more about excel RandBetween formula here.