Is the random truly fair?

In the practical sense, yes. The algorithm relies on Math.random() in the browser, which is pseudo-random rather than cryptographically secure, but Fisher-Yates over a uniform random source is provably unbiased. Every line has the same chance of landing in every position.

Can I preserve some lines?

Yes — most implementations include a "preserve first N lines" option for keeping a header row in place while the data below it reshuffles. Some tools also let you shuffle only a specific range to handle structured input gracefully.

Will duplicates be preserved?

Yes. Shuffling reorders the lines you provided without removing any of them, so two identical entries both make it into the output. If you want unique items in random order, deduplicate the list first and then shuffle the result.

Can I undo a shuffle?

Once the output replaces the input, the original ordering is gone unless you kept a copy. Some tools provide an undo button or expose a seed value for reproducible runs, but most don't, so saving the source list is the safest habit.

What about very large lists?

The browser comfortably handles tens of thousands of lines. Beyond that, performance varies by device. For genuinely huge files (millions of rows) a command-line tool like shuf or sort -R is faster and won't tie up your tab.

How is this different from sort?

Sorting produces a deterministic order — alphabetical, numeric, or by some other key. Shuffling produces a random order with no key at all. They're opposites, but they often appear together: shuffle first to neutralize the input, then sort the result by some other criterion.

Is the data sent anywhere?

No. Shuffling is pure JavaScript array manipulation that runs entirely in your browser. The lines you paste never leave your device.

Shuffle Lines

Randomly shuffle and reorder lines of text online. Free line shuffler for randomizing lists, names, questions, and data entries.

Text Tools

Instant results

Input

Shuffled Output

About Shuffle Lines

Randomly reorder lines of text using Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm. Click shuffle multiple times to get different random orders.

How to Use Shuffle Lines

Paste your list

Drop multi-line text into the input. Each line counts as one item the shuffle will reorder.

Pick the options that fit

Decide whether to preserve a header row, skip blank lines, or accept a seed for reproducible runs. The defaults work for most ad-hoc shuffles.

Run the shuffle

Click the shuffle button to randomize the order. If a particular result happens to look too ordered, click again — every run draws a fresh permutation.

Copy the result

Take the randomized list back into your exam, raffle, A/B test, or wherever else you need a fair, unbiased ordering.

When to Use Shuffle Lines

Randomizing question and answer order

Teachers building exam variants, survey designers ordering response options, and quiz authors pulling from a question bank all need a quick way to randomize order. Shuffling lines breaks any pattern that students or respondents might exploit and produces a fresh sequence on every click.

Eliminating alphabetical bias

Any list ordered by name implicitly favors people whose surnames start with A. Whether you're drawing raffle entries, ordering contest finalists, or deciding which student presents first, shuffling levels the playing field by giving every entry an equal shot at any position.

Setting up games and content rotations

Trivia rounds, virtual card decks, randomized playlists, and QA test scenarios all benefit from a one-click way to reorder. The tool turns a flat list into a fresh sequence so the same content feels new each time you draw from it.

Picking a random sample

Need a random subset for an A/B test, a focus group, or a beta cohort? Shuffle the source list and take the first N rows. The technique gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected and is dramatically simpler than rolling your own random sampler.

Shuffle Lines Examples

A four-item shuffle

Input

Apple\nBanana\nCherry\nDate

Output

Cherry, Date, Apple, Banana on one click; a completely different order on the next

Each click runs a fresh Fisher-Yates pass over the four items. Every permutation has equal probability, so reshuffling until you like the result is fine — no order is biased toward any particular outcome.

A larger list

Input

A list of 100 names

Output

The same 100 names in a freshly random order, different on every shuffle

The algorithm scales linearly, so even a few thousand entries shuffle instantly. For genuinely huge lists (millions of rows) you'd want a streaming command-line tool like shuf, but the browser handles the typical workload comfortably.

Preserving a header row

Input

Header\n---\nItem 1\nItem 2\nItem 3

Output

With the preserve-header option enabled, the first lines stay put while the rest reshuffle

Useful when the input has a title or column-header line that shouldn't move. Without the option, every line including the header is treated as fair game for randomization.

Tips & Best Practices for Shuffle Lines

1.Math.random() is a pseudo-random source, but for shuffling lines it's effectively random — it has no pattern you can predict. The cryptographically secure crypto.getRandomValues is overkill for ordinary shuffling and only matters when randomness is itself a security boundary.
2.If a shuffle happens to look ordered, just click again. Genuine randomness occasionally produces runs that look intentional, and there's no shame in reshuffling until the result feels right.
3.For experiments you might need to reproduce later, look for tools that expose a seed value. Without one, you can't recreate a particular shuffle on demand, which sometimes matters for research and regression testing.
4.Shuffling preserves every line, duplicates included. If you want unique items in random order, deduplicate first and then shuffle the cleaned list.
5.A common pattern is shuffle-then-sort: shuffle to remove input order, take the first N items, then sort the survivors by some other criterion. The result is an unbiased random sample displayed in a friendly order.
6.Don't over-interpret short lists. Three items have only six possible orderings, so any one of them will look slightly unbalanced if you only shuffle a few times. Long lists hide that effect; short lists expose it.

Frequently Asked Questions

The tool splits your input into an array of lines and runs a Fisher-Yates pass to randomize the order. Each shuffle produces a different permutation drawn uniformly from all possible orderings. Click again for a fresh result.

Shuffle Lines

About Shuffle Lines

How to Use Shuffle Lines

Paste your list

Pick the options that fit

Run the shuffle

Copy the result

When to Use Shuffle Lines

Randomizing question and answer order

Eliminating alphabetical bias

Setting up games and content rotations

Picking a random sample

Shuffle Lines Examples

A four-item shuffle

A larger list

Preserving a header row

Tips & Best Practices for Shuffle Lines

Frequently Asked Questions

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