Text Shuffler
Shuffle lines or words with a genuinely fair Fisher–Yates shuffle.
About this shuffler
Paste lines (or switch to word mode), hit shuffle, copy the result — randomized with Fisher–Yates, the algorithm that makes every ordering exactly equally likely. Reverse-order button included for free.
Fair shuffling is a real algorithm
Most ad-hoc shuffles are measurably biased. The famous cautionary tale: sorting with a random comparator — which a major browser once used for a ballot-order shuffle — produces distributions where some orderings are several times likelier than others, a bias big enough to matter when the order IS the outcome (who presents first, who picks last, whose name tops the ballot). Fisher–Yates (1938, adapted for computers by Durstenfeld) walks the list once, swapping each position with a uniformly random remaining one, and provably gives every permutation equal probability. That's what runs here, and it's why this page is the right tool when order carries stakes: presentation schedules, question banks, review queues, chore rotations. Word mode shuffles within the text instead — language-class word-order exercises and found poetry. Same-seed reshuffles don't exist by design (every click is fresh). Division of labour with the neighbours: picking ONE winner is the picker, short-straw ceremonies are draw lots, fair teams are the team generator, and How random is a random number generator? explains what fair even means.
Frequently asked questions
Is the shuffle actually fair?
Yes — Fisher–Yates gives every possible ordering identical probability, unlike naive approaches (random-comparator sorts are measurably biased — famously so in a browser ballot incident). For orders with stakes, the algorithm matters.
Shuffle lines or words — what's the difference?
Lines mode reorders your list (names, tasks, questions); words mode scrambles within the text itself — for word-order exercises and cut-up poetry.
Can I get the same shuffle twice?
No — every click draws fresh randomness. If you need a defensible record, copy the result immediately; there's no seed to replay.
Shuffler, picker or draw lots?
Shuffling ranks EVERYONE at once (an order); the picker selects one winner; draw lots stages the short-straw ceremony. Same fairness, different rituals.