How to pick an Instagram giveaway winner fairly

• Write the rules in the post before anyone comments.
• Say who may enter, and who may not.
• Say how many winners you will draw.
• Say what happens if a winner does not reply.
• Copy the eligible names yourself. NamesWheel does not import comments.
• Remove duplicate names before the spin.
• Spin once, in view of the people watching.
• Save a draw receipt and post the winner.

An Instagram giveaway picker only works if you already have a list. NamesWheel does not import comments, and it does not read your posts. You copy the eligible names into the raffle wheel, clean the duplicates, and spin where people can see the result. The tool’s job is the draw. Your job is the rules, the eligible list, and the announcement.

Start with the post. Write who can enter, what they must do, how many winners you will pick, and the day the draw closes. Say what the winner has to do next, and how long they have to reply. Say that Instagram does not sponsor the giveaway. You are responsible for Instagram’s promotion guidelines and for the law where you live. NamesWheel does not check those rules for you.

Eligibility is a filter you apply before the spin, not a setting inside the wheel. If the rule is one entry per person, a name that appears twice is still one person. If employees, the host, and the host’s household cannot win, leave them off the list. If a comment is only an emoji, it does not become a name unless your rules said it counts and you can tell who sent it. When you are unsure, leave the line out and note why.

Build the list yourself. Type the names, paste them from a spreadsheet you filled in, or use Instagram’s own export if you already have one. Do not use a tool that scrapes comments against Instagram’s terms. NamesWheel does not import comments. Put one name on each line. Blank lines are ignored. If two people share a first name, add a last initial so the winner is obvious when you post it.

Then remove duplicates. The list tools under the entries can drop repeated lines. Look at the list once yourself, because “Sam” and “Sam ” and “sam” may not look identical to a hurried paste. One person, one line. If your rules allowed a second entry for a specific action, that is two lines only when the rules said so, and you should be able to point at those rules later.

Open the raffle wheel, paste the clean list, and turn remove-after-win on if you will draw more than one winner. The first spin then leaves that name out of the next one. No repeats under Customize, then Modes, is the round version: everyone once, and a new round restores the roster. For a single winner, one spin is enough. Do not spin privately and then spin again until you like the name.

A live draw is the same wheel on a screen people can see. On a stream, use the stream page and an overlay link as a browser source, or open Present and share that window. In a story, screen-record the spin or show it on a phone you are already filming. Say the number of names in the list before you spin. If someone spots a missing name, add it before the draw, not after.

The winner is chosen with crypto.getRandomValues before the wheel moves. The spin is the animation. Clicking during the spin does not change the result. After it lands, read the name, and use Copy winner if you want it on the clipboard. Then post the winner where you said you would. Include the date and, if you promised it, how many names were in the draw.

Save a record. Results or More, then Draw receipt, builds a SHA-256 note of the winner, the counts, the mode, and a hash of the entries. It is an audit note you can keep with the rules screenshot. It is not a blockchain certificate. Export a CSV of the list as well if you need a file your own notes can sit beside. Store both with the post, not in a chat that disappears.

If the winner does not reply by the deadline in your rules, redraw. Leave remove-after-win on so the silent winner is not picked again. Spin among the names that remain, and post that this is a redraw under the rule you already published. Do not quietly swap in a friend. If the rules did not mention a redraw, update the post before you spin again so the new step is visible.

Announce the real name you drew, spelled the way it appears in the list. Tag them only if your rules said you would. Give them the next step: reply to the post, send a message, or collect the prize the way you described. If the prize is a product, you still handle shipping and tax. The wheel does not contact the winner and does not know their address.

A short checklist sits at the top of this page so you can walk it in order on the day. Rules, eligibility, one line per person, no duplicate lines, one visible spin, a receipt, a posted winner. If a step and the button on the screen disagree, trust the button and fix the write-up later. The raffle wheel is the draw. This guide is the order of operations around it.

Check the list against the post one last time. Count the lines. Say that count out loud before you spin, and write it next to the winner when you announce. If the count changed because you removed a duplicate, say that too. People trust a draw they can recount. A hidden extra spin, or a name added after the wheel stopped, is the mistake this order is meant to prevent. The raffle wheel will spin whatever is in the box, so the box has to match the rules you already published.

When the giveaway is over, clear the list or start a new wheel before the next post. A saved list in this browser will still be there tomorrow, which is useful if you are redrawing and dangerous if the next giveaway should be a different audience. There is no sign in. The names stay on this device unless you put them in a share link. Send that link only to a co-host who should see the entrants.

Open the raffle wheel