Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.
Last reviewed:
How to take a random sample from a list in Excel and Google Sheets
Excel & Google Sheets
=INDEX(A2:A4,MATCH(SMALL(B2:B4,1),B2:B4,0))✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Name | RandNum |
| Alice | 0.72 |
| Bob | 0.31 |
| Carol | 0.55 |
=INDEX(A2:A4,MATCH(SMALL(B2:B4,1),B2:B4,0))→Bob
Try it with your data
Edit the grid or formula, then run it through a real spreadsheet engine — no signup.
Sample data — click any cell to edit
Runs server-side · free · no signup
Step by step
- 1Enter your list in column A (e.g., names in A2:A20).
- 2In column B, enter =RAND() next to each name and copy it down — this assigns a random number to each row.
- 3In column C, enter =RANK(B2,$B$2:$B$20,1) to rank each random number from smallest to largest.
- 4Retrieve the top N sample items using =INDEX($A$2:$A$20,MATCH(ROW(A1),$C$2:$C$20,0)) copied down for as many rows as you need.
Tips
- Press F9 (or Cmd+Shift+F9 on Mac) to manually recalculate and generate a new random sample without editing any cells.
Working on a sheet you inherited? Run the Auditor on the whole file first — it flags every #REF!, #N/A, broken column pattern, and inconsistent formula in seconds, free, no signup.
Frequently asked
How do I get a random sample of 5 from a 50-item list in Excel 365?
Use =INDEX(A2:A51,SORTBY(SEQUENCE(50),RANDARRAY(50)),SEQUENCE(5)) — or more simply, add a RAND column, sort by it, and take the top 5.
Will RAND() give me duplicate ranks?
Duplicates are theoretically possible but astronomically rare. Use RANK.EQ with a tiebreaker if needed: =RANK(B2,$B$2:$B$20)+COUNTIF($B$2:B2,B2)-1.