Draw Secret Santa names online in seconds — no hats, no slips of paper, no sign-up. Nobody draws themselves, you can exclude couples, and each person reveals only their own match, so the secret stays secret.
Duplicates are removed automatically.
Tip: pass the screen around — each person taps their own name to reveal just their match.
Proper derangement — nobody ever draws themselves — and each person reveals only their own match. There is no "copy full list" button, because that would spoil the secret.
Keep couples, siblings, or last year's pair apart. If your rules make a fair draw impossible, the tool tells you instead of silently cheating.
No accounts, no emails, no invites to manage. Names never leave your browser — run the whole exchange from one screen.
Most Secret Santa exchanges fail for boring, preventable reasons: the budget was awkward, someone drew their own spouse, or the "secret" lasted about four minutes. Here's how to run one that works — whether it's a 10-person office, a 30-kid classroom, or a scattered remote team.
The sweet spot is 6 to 30 people. Below 6, everyone can guess who has whom. Above 30, logistics (collecting gifts, scheduling the exchange) start to hurt. For larger groups, split into teams or departments rather than running one giant draw.
The classic mistake is the organizer picking a number that feels fine to them. $15–$25 works for most offices; classrooms often go $5–$10 or "handmade only." The key move: ask the group anonymously before announcing. One person silently stressed about money can poison the whole exchange. A simple "reply with the max you'd be comfortable spending" message does the job.
Draw names at least two weeks before exchange day — three if shipping is involved. This is the timeline professional organizers use:
Some organizers resist wish lists because they "ruin the surprise." In practice, the surprise is who your Santa is, not what the gift is — and a bad gift ruins the fun far more than a wish list does. Ask everyone for 3–5 ideas in different price ranges. Our generator keeps each person's draw private, so wish lists can be shared with the group without spoiling anything.
Every group has them: couples who shouldn't draw each other, last year's pair repeating, a manager who shouldn't draw their direct report. Decide the exclusion rules before the draw, not after — re-drawing because "oops" kills trust in the process. This is exactly what the exclusion box above is for: enter each pair once, and the draw guarantees nobody gets a forbidden match (or themselves).
The traditional hat-draw has a fatal flaw: someone always peeks, photographs the slips, or "accidentally" sees. Digital draws with per-person reveal (like the one on this page) fix this structurally — each person only ever sees their own result, and there's no master list floating around to leak. We deliberately don't offer a "copy all results" button for this reason.
Themes solve the "I have no idea what to buy" problem. Proven ones: handmade only, thrift-store challenge (best gift under $10 from a secondhand shop), consumables only (coffee, chocolate, candles — nothing that clutters), or local makers. Announce the theme with the budget, not after.
For distributed teams: draw 3+ weeks early (shipping buffer), set a video call for the unwrapping, and have everyone open gifts on camera in turn. It sounds corny; it works. Agree on a shipping deadline a full week before exchange day — late packages are the #1 remote-exchange killer.
Someone will drop out after the draw. Decide now: does the organizer re-draw, or quietly reassign that person's Santa to someone else? For groups under 12, a quick re-draw is cleanest. Tell the group the policy in advance so it doesn't feel personal when it happens.
Type everyone's name (one per line), optionally add pairs to keep apart, and click Generate Draw. Each person then taps their own name to reveal only their match — nobody sees the full list.
The generator uses a derangement — a shuffle where every position is forced to change — so drawing yourself is mathematically impossible, not just unlikely.
Yes. Add one pair per line under "Keep apart" (e.g. Alice, Bob). The draw respects every exclusion, and if your rules leave no fair draw possible, it tells you instead of guessing.
Yes — completely free, unlimited draws, no account and no email required.
No. Everything happens on one screen: generate the draw, then pass the device around so each person reveals only their own match.
Matches are hidden behind per-person reveal buttons, and there is deliberately no way to copy or display the full list at once.
You will get a clear message saying so — for example, with two people who exclude each other. Remove or relax one exclusion and draw again.
No. The draw runs entirely in your browser — names are never sent to a server, stored, or shared.