Spin the wheel picks one line from a list you type. People also call that a wheel of names or a random name picker. The pointer stays at the top. The wheel turns and stops, and the slice under the pointer is the result printed underneath. You can put students, prizes, lunch spots, or the two words Yes and No. Blank lines are ignored. A name can be more than one word as long as it stays on one line.
The choice is made in the browser. Each spin draws one uniform random number with the cryptographic generator the browser provides, then maps that number onto a slice. Every remaining line has the same chance on that spin. The animation is decoration on top of a choice that was already made: five extra turns, then an ease-out, lasting a little over two seconds. If you have asked the system to reduce motion, the wheel jumps to the winning angle instead of spinning. Either way, the sentence under the wheel is the label of the slice at the pointer, so the picture and the words cannot disagree.
Nothing is uploaded. The list is not saved on this site, there is no classroom code to share, and there is no account. Refresh the page and the sample names come back unless you type your own again. That is a limit as well as a privacy choice. If you need the same list tomorrow, keep it in your own notes. Do not type secrets, full identity numbers, or anything you would not say out loud in the room, because the names are visible to anyone looking at the screen while it spins.
Remove-the-winner is optional and off by default. Tick it when you are drawing a queue and a person should not come up twice. After the spin, that line disappears from the box and the wheel redraws. Leave it unticked for a lunch choice you might spin again, or for yes and no, where deleting the winner would leave a one-slice wheel. One slice is allowed. The wheel still "spins", and the only name is the result. That is the correct behaviour, not a bug.
The wheel of names page and the random name picker page are this tool with the headings people search. The yes or no wheel starts with those two words filled in. You can replace them with Maybe, or with longer answers, because it is still just a list. Colours repeat after eight slices so a long class list stays readable. Very long labels are drawn on the canvas and may be clipped by the slice. Shorten a label if you cannot read it while it turns.
This is not a certified draw. A classroom picking a speaker does not need a public audit log. A raffle with a paid prize does. The random source is the browser's crypto generator, which is the right tool for a fair slice among friends, and the wrong thing to cite as a regulated lottery. There is no history panel, no proof file, and no way for this site to replay your spin, because the site never received it. If someone disputes a result, the people in the room are the record.
Related toys on the site stay separate. Bingo cards print a grid. They do not spin. Fancy text restyles a line for a caption after you have a winner, if you want the name to look decorative in a slide. Neither of those reads this list. When you are done, clear the box if the names were a private group, then close the tab.