Giveaways · 9 min read · By the SpinPicker team · Updated 2026-10-22

How to Pick a Random Winner for an Instagram or Facebook Giveaway

Running a giveaway on social media is easy. Choosing the winner fairly is where people get nervous: comments pile up, some people enter twice, and a few always ask how the winner was picked. This guide gives you a simple routine that works on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and any other platform where people enter by commenting.

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Step 1: Write clear rules before you post

Everything that follows is easier if the rules are written down first. Say what counts as an entry (a comment, a tag, a share), whether one person can enter more than once, the closing time with a time zone, how many winners there will be, and how winners will be contacted. Add how long a winner has to reply before you pick someone else.

Platforms have their own promotion rules, and laws on contests differ from place to place. Check the current guidelines for the platform you use, and the rules where you live, before you launch. This article covers how to pick a fair winner, not legal requirements.

Step 2: Collect the entries

When the giveaway closes, gather the entries in one place. For a small giveaway, scroll through the comments and copy each valid username into a spreadsheet or a text file, one per line. For a larger one, you can use the export options of your platform or a trusted comment-export tool, but read what permissions a tool asks for before you connect your account.

Take a screenshot of the post when it closes, including the comment count. It protects you if anyone disputes the numbers later.

Step 3: Clean the list

• Remove entries that did not follow the rules, such as missing tags or late comments.
• Remove duplicate people if the rules allow only one entry each. If extra entries are allowed, keep them, because each one is a legitimate ticket.
• Remove your own account, your team and the giveaway partner accounts, unless the rules say they can win.
• Keep a copy of the removed entries and the reason, in case someone asks.

Step 4: Number the entries

Give every remaining entry a number from 1 upward, in the order they appear on your list. In a spreadsheet, the row number does this for you. If somebody earned three entries, they simply appear three times with three different numbers. This makes the draw easy to check, because the winning number points to exactly one line.

Step 5: Draw the winner

You have two good options. Both are fair, and the choice depends on how you want to present it.

• Use a number draw. Open the giveaway number picker, set the minimum to 1 and the maximum to your last entry number, and press the button. Find that number on your list. It is quick, easy to record and easy for anyone to verify.
• Use a name wheel. Paste your usernames into the random name picker wheel, press spin and read the winner in the pop-up. It is more fun on a live stream. Turn on remove winner after each spin if you are drawing several winners.

Whichever you use, press the button once. If you keep drawing until you get a result you like, the draw is no longer fair and you should not pretend it is.

Step 6: Draw several winners without repeats

For more than one prize, draw the first winner, note their entry, then remove all of that person's entries before you draw again. On the wheel, switch on Remove the winner after each spin, and delete any extra tickets that belong to the same person. With the number tool, ask for as many numbers as you need with duplicates off, and make sure two numbers do not belong to the same person.

Step 7: Record the draw and announce it

Record your screen while you draw. Show the list, the settings and the result. Then post the winner with the winning number and the total number of entries, for example winner is entry 148 of 612. People can count down to line 148 and see the name for themselves.

Contact the winner through the channel you promised, and keep the deadline you set. If they do not answer, pick again using the same method, after removing their entry, and say so in the follow-up post.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Choosing a winner because you recognise the name, or because the comment was clever, when the giveaway was supposed to be random.
• Changing the rules after the giveaway has started.
• Drawing off camera with no record of how the winner was picked.
• Letting the same person win two prizes without saying that is allowed.
• Forgetting time zones in the closing date.

A quick checklist

• Rules published and pinned.
• Post screenshot saved at closing time.
• Entries copied and cleaned.
• Every entry numbered.
• One draw with a random tool, recorded.
• Winning number and total posted.
• Winner contacted with a deadline.

For a deeper look at the planning side, including how to handle no-shows, read our guide on how to run a fair giveaway. If you run the draw with a wheel, our article on whether a spinner wheel is truly random explains what is happening behind the animation.