Pair everyone without calculating a group count
Use pairs for a partner exercise, peer review, or a two-person discussion. Enter at least two names, choose an odd-list rule, and generate. Each ordinary pair contains two entries. Check the count before you draw.
Blank lines do not count. Repeated names do: add a number or another distinguishing label when two people share a name. Editing the list or the odd-list rule clears the draw and download links.
Our twelve-label practice list
The sample roster is synthetic. Its twelve numbered labels run from Aster / 01 to Lake / 12; they do not describe a classroom.
Draw the twelve labels and count six pair cards. Read the labels from the cards back into a list: each numbered entry should appear once. Change the odd-list rule and draw again. There are still six pairs; the rule has no effect on an even list.
What changes when you add Moss / 13?
The default rule keeps all thirteen entries active. Add Moss / 13 to the sample list: the preview becomes five pairs and one trio. Ten entries go into pairs; the other three go into a card labeled Trio 1. That card is a three-person group, so a task that requires exactly two people needs a different decision.
Need exactly two people in every active group? Choose Leave one person waiting. The same thirteen labels produce six pairs and a Waiting card containing one entry. No entry disappears, and no person is used twice to fill a slot. The shuffle decides which entry waits; the tool does not rotate that duty across rounds.
Try the smaller boundary too: Aster / 01, Birch / 02, and Moss / 13 produce either one trio or one pair plus one waiting entry. With only Aster / 01, generation stops and no file is offered. A partner is never invented.
Audit the saved draw
For the thirteen-label exercise, download CSV and TXT before drawing again. CSV has the columns Group,Type,Name. Its thirteen member rows should match the thirteen visible entries. The default draw contains ten rows of type Pair and three of type Trio; the waiting rule contains twelve Pair rows and one Waiting row.
TXT separates cards with blank lines and uses the same Pair, Trio, or Waiting heading shown on screen. Find Moss / 13 in each download and confirm it belongs under the same heading as in the visible draw. Then check the other twelve labels. The practice roster supplies all thirteen numbered lines for this check.
To check duplicate handling, replace Moss / 13 with a second Aster / 01. The count stays thirteen and both copies remain. Rename the second copy Aster / 13 before the next draw if you need to identify two different people.
Which odd-list rule fits your activity?
Choose a trio when everyone needs to participate at once and the activity can accommodate three people. Choose a waiting entry when every active group must contain exactly two. Decide how the waiting person will take part before starting; this page does not assign them an observer role or a later turn.
Will reshuffling guarantee a new partner?
No. Reshuffle makes another random draw and can repeat partners, the waiting entry, or the whole result. The page does not remember previous rounds, balance skill, or enforce partner preferences. Use the partner ledger guide if you want to check past draws manually.
Names are processed in this browser and are not included in analytics or sharing URLs. There is no account or saved history. CSV quotes commas and double quotes; labels starting with =, +, @, or - receive an apostrophe to avoid spreadsheet formulas. TXT preserves those labels. For larger groups, use the group generator.