Is the shuffle truly random?

It uses the Fisher-Yates algorithm, which produces an unbiased uniform permutation, seeded fresh on each click so every shuffle differs.

Can I shuffle individual words instead of lines?

Yes. Switch the mode to Words to reorder every whitespace-separated token, or to Characters to scramble individual letters.

Does my text leave the browser?

No — shuffling happens entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.

Why is Fisher-Yates better than sorting by a random key?

Fisher-Yates guarantees every ordering is equally likely in linear time. Sorting by Math.random keys is subtly biased and slower, so this tool uses the proven unbiased method.

What happens to blank lines or extra spaces in word mode?

In word mode the text is split on whitespace and empty tokens are dropped, so the result is a clean single-spaced list of the words in random order.

Will repeated clicks give the same order?

No. Each click reseeds the random generator, so you get a different arrangement every time — useful for re-rolling until you like the order.

Can I use it to pick a random winner from a list?

Yes. Paste names one per line, shuffle by lines, and the entry now at the top is a fair random pick.

What is the Text Shuffler?

Free text shuffler that randomly reorders lines, words or characters using an unbiased Fisher-Yates shuffle. Great for randomizing lists and tests. Runs entirely in your browser. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Text Shuffler — Gera Tools

Name: Text Shuffler
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Shuffle lines, words or characters

The text shuffler randomly reorders your input so that every arrangement is equally likely. Use it to randomize a list of names, scramble words for a puzzle, reorder quiz questions, or pick a fair random winner. Choose to shuffle by lines, words, or characters.

How it works

The tool splits your text by the chosen unit — by newline for lines, by whitespace for words (dropping empty tokens), or into individual characters. It then applies the Fisher–Yates shuffle: walking from the last item to the first, it swaps each item with a randomly chosen earlier-or-equal position. This produces a uniform, unbiased permutation in linear time — far more reliable than sorting on random keys. A pseudo-random generator is seeded fresh on every click, so each shuffle gives a new order. The shuffled pieces are then re-joined (lines by newline, words by space, characters with nothing).

Why Fisher-Yates and not just sort by random?

A common (incorrect) approach to shuffling is to assign each item a random number and sort the array by those values. This is subtly biased because sorting algorithms are not designed to handle equal-probability comparisons. Fisher-Yates avoids this by working in-place, making exactly one swap per element, and choosing uniformly from the remaining unshuffled positions. Every permutation is equally likely, making it the standard algorithm used in programming libraries, card games, and lottery systems.

Mode guide: which unit to choose

Lines mode — best for:

Randomizing a list of names for a raffle or secret santa draw
Reordering quiz questions or flashcard prompts before printing
Scrambling the order of tasks in a to-do list

Words mode — best for:

Creating word-scramble puzzles from a sentence
Shuffling vocabulary words in a study list
Generating random word order for a creative writing warm-up

Characters mode — best for:

Creating letter-scramble puzzles (anagrams)
Generating a shuffled character pool for a password hint
Producing obfuscated-looking strings for testing

Worked example — picking a random winner

Paste your entrant list, one name per line:

Alice
Bob
Carol
David
Eve

Click Shuffle by Lines. The top name in the result is a fair random pick — every entrant had equal probability of landing there. Click again if you need a second winner (runner-up), or want to re-roll.

Example — word scramble

Sentence: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”

One word-mode shuffle might give: “fox lazy over dog the jumps brown quick The”

Each click produces a different word order, suitable for a language-exercise puzzle where students must reconstruct the original sentence.

Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded or stored.