Draw Secret Santa names online, without email.
Draw Secret Santa so nobody gets themselves and couples are kept apart, then show each match privately, with no emails or accounts. Free, in your browser.
By Suraj Kumar5 min read
Drawing names from a hat works until someone draws themselves, or their partner, or the group is spread across three cities. Here is how to draw online without handing anyone's email to a website.
Nobody draws themselves; couples can be kept apart.
Every draw gives each person one other person to give to. Under More options, “Ava and Noah” keeps a couple from drawing each other, and “Priya > Omar” only stops Priya drawing Omar. “Nobody draws their own Santa” stops two people giving to each other.
Among all the draws that fit your rules, each is as likely: the page tries random orders until one fits. If the rules leave almost none, it says so, finds one by searching, and says that not every allowed draw was as likely.
Together: pass the phone.
If everyone is in the room, pass the device round. Each person taps their own name, reads who they are giving to and hides it before passing it on. Names already looked at are marked, so nobody looks twice.
Apart: a link for each person.
Copy each person's link and send it to them yourself, by message or email. The match is carried in the link after #, which browsers never send to any server, and opens only when they press Show. Whoever made the links could open them too, so the page says plainly that a link is as private as the way you send it.
Say the budget and the day.
Add a note for everyone, such as “Up to £20, swap on 20 December”. It shows with every match and travels in every link.
Further reading
Topics: secret santa generator · secret santa online · secret santa no email · draw names for christmas · gift exchange · secret santa with exclusions
A little less theory. A little more doing.
Try it on your own terms, with a free browser tool.
Try the tool