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Text Shuffle

Randomly shuffle words or lines in text

Updated

What is the Text Shuffle?

Text Shuffle reorders lines, words, sentences, paragraphs, or characters. Use it to mix up study questions, writing prompts, or sample data.

No sign-up or installation is needed; shuffling runs in your browser.

Why use this shuffler?

  • Shuffle methods: Uses a Fisher-Yates shuffle with the browser's Math.random() by default, or a repeatable seeded generator when you enter a seed. It is intended for casual use, not security-sensitive or audited draws.
  • 8 shuffle modes: Lines, Words (global), Words per Line, Sentences, Paragraphs, Characters (global), Characters per Line, Characters per Word.
  • Built for real lists: Handles thousands of lines without lag, preserves Unicode and emojis correctly.
  • Repeatable results: Use the same seed and settings to reproduce a shuffle.
  • Pro-level controls: Keep first/last N items fixed (great for headers), remove duplicates before shuffling, trim whitespace, preserve empty lines, and choose your word delimiter.

Popular use cases

  • Mix up a list: Reorder names or tasks for informal use.
  • Study and flashcards: Shuffle questions, sentences, or vocabulary to avoid memorizing order.
  • Writing prompts: Shuffle words or sentences to break writer's block.
  • Data testing: Randomize CSV lines, test cases, or tasks.
  • Games and puzzles: Create anagrams with Characters per Word or jumble lists for party games.
  • Classroom activities: Mix up student groups, quiz items, or paragraph order.

The tool also includes controls for fixed items, duplicates, whitespace, empty lines, and word delimiters.

How it works

The tool shuffles your text in 4 fast, transparent steps — all client-side.

1. Choose what to shuffle

Pick the granularity:

  • Lines: Splits on \n. Best for lists, names, tasks.
  • Words (global): Splits entire text into words using your chosen delimiter and shuffles globally.
  • Words per Line: Keeps line breaks, shuffles words inside each line independently.
  • Sentences: Detects sentences ending in . ! ? and shuffles them.
  • Paragraphs: Splits on blank lines (\n\n) and shuffles paragraph blocks.
  • Characters: Shuffles every character, including spaces and line breaks unless you use a per-line variant.
  • Characters per Line / per Word: Jumbles letters inside each line or each word.

2. Configure parsing

  • Delimiter: For word modes, choose Whitespace, Space, Comma, Semicolon, Newline, or a Custom string. The same delimiter is used to re-join.
  • Trim & Empty Handling: Trim removes leading/trailing spaces from each item. Preserve Empty Lines keeps blank lines in the shuffle pool; otherwise they are dropped.
  • Deduplication: Optionally removes duplicates before shuffling. Case-sensitive mode treats Apple and apple as different.

3. Set deterministic behavior (optional)

  • Keep First / Last N: Fixes headers or footers. For per-line modes, this is applied per line.
  • Seed: When enabled, the tool creates a repeatable pseudo-random sequence using xmur3 and mulberry32. The seed and shuffle counter are combined so repeated reshuffles can produce a new sequence that can be reproduced with the same settings.

4. Shuffle

The core uses the Fisher-Yates method to reorder items:

for i from n-1 down to 1: j = random(0..i) swap items and items[i][j]

This runs in O(n) time. The result is joined with the appropriate separator (\n for lines, space or your delimiter for words, for sentences, \n\n for paragraphs). The quality of the random order depends on the random-number generator; this tool is for casual shuffling, not security-sensitive or audited draws.

Your text never leaves your browser. You can copy the result, swap it back to the input for another pass, or download it as a .txt file.

Examples

Shuffle grocery list

Randomize a shopping list so you shop in a different order each time.

Apples
Bananas
Carrots
Dates
Eggplants
Figs
Grapes
 
Carrots
Figs
Apples
Grapes
Dates
Bananas
Eggplants

Shuffle words for creativity

Mix up words in a sentence to spark new ideas and writing prompts.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
 
lazy quick The fox dog brown over jumps

Shuffle sentences for studying

Randomize sentences from notes to test comprehension and recall.

This is the first sentence. This is the second sentence. This is the third sentence. This is the fourth sentence.
 
This is the third sentence. This is the first sentence. This is the fourth sentence. This is the second sentence.

Shuffle characters per word

Jumble letters inside each word while keeping word order for a puzzle effect.

hello world shuffle
 
olhel wrold hfusfle

Frequently asked questions

What does Text Shuffle do?

Text Shuffle reorders lines, words, words per line, sentences, paragraphs, or characters. It is useful for mixing up quiz questions, writing prompts, and sample data.

What is the difference between Shuffle Words and Shuffle Words per Line?

Shuffle Words (global) takes your entire input, breaks it into words, and shuffles all words together, losing original line breaks. Shuffle Words per Line keeps each line intact and shuffles the words only inside that line, which is perfect for shuffling a table or CSV-like rows without mixing rows.

Is the shuffle truly random?

By default it uses the browser's Math.random() with a Fisher-Yates shuffle. Seeded mode uses a repeatable pseudo-random generator. This tool is suitable for casual reordering, not security-sensitive uses or draws that need independently verifiable fairness.

Can I make the same shuffle twice?

Yes. Turn on Deterministic Seed and enter a seed. The same seed, settings, and shuffle count reproduce the same output. Each click on Shuffle advances the counter and can produce a different order.

How do Keep First N and Keep Last N work?

They lock items in place. For example, Keep First 1 keeps your header row from a list from moving. For global modes, it locks the first and last items of the whole list. For per-line modes like Words per Line or Chars per Line, it locks per line — useful to keep the first letter of a word fixed when creating puzzles.

Can I remove duplicates before shuffling?

Yes. Enable Remove Duplicates. The tool dedupes while keeping the first occurrence order, then shuffles the unique set. You can choose case-sensitive deduplication so Apple and apple are treated as different items.

Does it preserve empty lines and whitespace?

You control it. Preserve Empty Lines keeps blank lines in the shuffle pool. Trim Whitespace removes spaces around each item before shuffling. Character modes iterate over Unicode code points, so surrogate pairs stay together; multi-code-point emoji sequences may be split apart.

Is my text private and secure?

The shuffle operation runs in your browser. Avoid entering sensitive text into any online tool unless you have reviewed its privacy practices.

Can I shuffle sentences and paragraphs?

Yes. Sentence mode splits on . ! ? followed by space and keeps punctuation attached. Paragraph mode splits on blank lines. Both support keep first/last, deduplication, and seeded randomness just like line mode.

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