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.
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