Secret Santa is one of those traditions that sounds simple until you are actually running it. Someone has to collect all the names, randomize the assignments, make sure nobody drew themselves, and then distribute the results without accidentally revealing who got who. With folded paper slips, that is a lot of handling for one unlucky organizer.
A random spinner makes the whole process faster, fairer, and easier to manage — especially for groups spread across multiple households or doing the exchange remotely.
The Problem with Traditional Methods
Folded paper slips work, but they require everyone to be in the same room. If someone draws themselves, the whole thing has to restart. The organizer usually ends up seeing all the assignments while redistributing slips, which ruins their own surprise. Spreadsheets are better for remote groups but feel impersonal and require someone to manually avoid self-assignments.
A spinner with the "Remove and spin again" feature handles all of this cleanly. Each spin removes the person just assigned, so the pool shrinks correctly and nobody can be picked twice. The organizer does not need to see anyone else's assignment — each result can be shared privately via a unique link.
How to Run It Step by Step
Add all participant names
Type or paste every participant's name into SoChoosey. For a family or office group, this takes under a minute. Save the list with a name like "Secret Santa 2026" so you can reuse it next year.
Spin for the first giver
Spin the full list to pick the first person. This person will be assigned a recipient in the next spin. Note their name and remove them from the list.
Spin again for their recipient
Spin the remaining list to pick who the first person gives to. Remove that name too. Repeat for each remaining participant. The last person automatically gives to whoever has not yet been assigned a recipient.
Share assignments privately
After each pairing, use the share feature to copy a result link. Send that link privately to just the giver — they see their assignment without learning anyone else's. No spreadsheet, no group message that accidentally reveals too much.
Running Secret Santa Remotely
For families or teams spread across different locations, this approach works over a video call. Share your screen, show the spinner to everyone so the process is visible and trusted, and spin live. Each person watches their own name come out of the pool without knowing who got who — the suspense is part of the fun.
The same method works over a group chat. Run the spins, screenshot each result, and send each screenshot privately to the right person. The whole process takes about five minutes for a group of ten.
Reusing the List Year After Year
Save your participant list once and it is there the following December. Add new family members, remove people who have moved on, and spin again. The whole setup for year two takes about thirty seconds. For office groups that run Secret Santa annually, this alone makes SoChoosey worth bookmarking.
Ready to skip the paper slips this year? Open sochoosey.app, add your names, and spin. The whole assignment takes under five minutes regardless of group size.