Secret Santa Generator
← All toolsPaste in everyone taking part, add any pairs who must not draw each other, and everyone gets a private link showing only the name they drew. You can run it without ever seeing the pairings yourself.
How to use the Secret Santa Generator
- Paste in everyone taking part, one name per line.
- Add any pairs who must not draw each other — two names on a line, separated by a comma.
- Click “Draw the names”. Nobody gets themselves and no exclusion is broken.
- Send each person their own link. It shows one name, behind a click, and nothing else.
FAQ
- How do the exclusions work?
- Put two names on one line separated by a comma and neither will draw the other — it cuts both ways, because “Sam and Alex” is normally a couple who already buy for each other rather than a one-way rule. A name that doesn't match your list is flagged rather than silently ignored, since a typo in an exclusion is exactly how the pairing you promised wouldn't happen happens.
- What if my exclusions are impossible?
- It says so, and it means it. Shuffling and retrying can only ever report that it didn't manage — and on a tight set of exclusions it reports that after spinning forever. This searches for a valid assignment properly, so when it says there isn't one it has proved it. Three people who can each only give to the same fourth person is impossible, and you get told that rather than a spinner.
- Can the organiser avoid seeing who has who?
- Mostly. The results are a list of links, one per person, and the names inside them are encoded rather than printed — so you can send them out without reading them. Be straight about the limit though: the link has to carry the name, and anyone determined enough can decode it. It stops you seeing it by accident; it is not a secret kept from you.
- Does anything get emailed or stored?
- No. There is no server, no account and no email — the draw happens in this tab and the links are just text. Send them however you like: chat, text, or written on the back of an envelope.
