1. Paste your list
One name per line, or a comma list copied from your gradebook. Numbered lists are cleaned up automatically.
Free classroom tool
Classroom seating chart generator
Paste your class list, choose a layout, and get a random seating chart in seconds. Unlike a plain shuffler, this one respects your restrictions: keep two students apart, seat partners together, and reserve front-row desks for IEP, 504, vision, and hearing needs. Print it or download a PDF.
- No sign-up
- No watermark
- Names never leave your browser
Nothing is uploaded. Add your class list to begin.
1. Class list
One student per line, or paste a comma list.
0 students
2. Room layout
Choose how the desks sit.
3. Seating rules
Separate students, seat partners together, and reserve front-row desks.
Keep two students apart or together
Front-row seating (IEP, 504, vision, hearing)
Seating chart
Front of room at the top. Drag a desk onto another to swap two students, or click one and then another. Arrow keys move between desks.
Classroom Seating Chart
Add your class list, then select Generate chart.
Unseated students
Click a student or drag onto any desk
- Pinned to this desk
- Front-row accommodation
- Rule conflict
- Empty desk
4. Download or print
Save & manage class periods
Save your chart locally to switch between Period 1, Period 2, or move between home and school.
How it works
Random, but not careless
A shuffle is easy. A shuffle that also honors every restriction you have is the hard part, and it is what takes teachers twenty minutes on paper. This generator builds a random chart, checks it against your rules, and then keeps swapping desks until the rules are satisfied. If a set of rules is impossible in the room you configured, it says so and names the rule it had to break.
2. Shape the room
Rows, pairs, pods, or a horseshoe. Fit the desks to your class size, then delete any desk your room does not have.
3. Add your rules
Keep apart, keep together, and front-row seating. Accommodations are protected ahead of social rules.
4. Print or download
A landscape PDF with an optional alphabetical roster page, plus PNG for slides and CSV for your records.
Seating restrictions
The rules a real classroom needs
Most free seating chart makers only shuffle. These four rule types are the ones that decide whether a chart is usable on Monday morning.
Keep apart
The two students will not share a neighboring desk, a pair, or a pod. Use it for the pair who cannot stop talking and the pair who cannot get along.
Keep together
Seats two students side by side. Useful for a peer reading buddy, a translation partner, or a paraeducator pairing.
Front-row seating
Reserve the front row, or the front two or three rows, for documented accommodations. This rule is weighted above keep-apart, so it survives when the room runs out of options.
Pin to a desk
Lock a student to one exact desk. Every later shuffle leaves them where they are, so you can reseat the rest of the class without touching a placement that already works.
Practical uses
When teachers reach for a new chart
The first week of school
Start alphabetical so you can learn names quickly, print the roster page, and switch to random once you know the class.
A substitute folder
Print the chart in student view with the alphabetical roster page. A sub can take attendance from it without knowing anyone.
Group work and labs
Switch to pods of 3, 4, or 6 and let the generator mix the groups while your keep-apart rules still hold.
Test day
Use rows, add keep-apart rules for anyone you would rather not seat together, and generate a fresh arrangement for each period.
Seminar and discussion
A horseshoe or double horseshoe puts every student in the conversation, with the depth bands still driving front-row placement.
Parent night
Download the PNG and drop it straight into a slide deck, or hand out the printed chart at the door.
Student privacy
Your class list stays on your device
Student names are education records. This tool has no server component at all: parsing your roster, solving the chart, and writing the PDF, PNG, and CSV files all happen in your browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no copy of your class list for anyone to request, leak, or subpoena. Your most recent chart is kept in this browser's local storage only, and clearing the roster removes it.
One honest limitation: the standard PDF fonts cannot draw non-Latin scripts. If your roster contains names in Chinese, Arabic, Cyrillic, or another non-Latin script, the tool tells you and the PNG export renders them correctly.
Common questions
Seating chart generator FAQ
Can I keep certain students apart?
Yes. Add a "keep apart" rule for any two students and the generator will not seat them next to each other. Adjacency means a neighboring desk in rows, the same pair in a paired layout, the same pod in a group layout, or the desk beside them on a horseshoe. You can add as many rules as your class needs.
How do I reserve a front-row desk for an IEP or 504 accommodation?
Use the front-row seating rule and choose the front row, the front two rows, or the front three rows. Accommodation rules are weighted higher than keep-apart rules, so if the room cannot satisfy everything the generator protects the front-row placement first and tells you which social rule it had to break.
What happens when my rules cannot all be met?
The tool shows you exactly which rules it could not satisfy instead of quietly ignoring them. That usually means the constraints are impossible in the room you configured, for example three students who all must avoid each other in a pod of three. Add desks, switch layouts, or relax one rule and generate again.
Can I rearrange the chart by hand?
Yes. Drag any desk onto another to swap those two students, or tap one desk and then a second one on a touchscreen. Rules are rechecked after every swap, so you see immediately if a manual change breaks something. You can also pin a student to a desk so future charts keep them there.
Which desk arrangements are supported?
Traditional rows, paired desks, groups or pods of 2, 3, 4, or 6, a single horseshoe, and a double horseshoe. Choose "Fit desks to class size" and the tool builds a room that holds your whole class, or set the rows and columns yourself. You can also delete individual desks to match an odd room shape.
What is the difference between student view and teacher view?
Student view puts the board at the top and shows the room as a student sees it on paper. Teacher view mirrors the chart left to right, so the desk on the left of your page is the desk on your left while you stand at the front facing the class. Print whichever one matches how you will use it.
Is my class list uploaded anywhere?
No. Every part of this tool runs in your browser: parsing the roster, solving the chart, and building the PDF, PNG, and CSV files. Student names are never sent to a server. Your last chart is saved only in this browser so you can come back to it.
Is it really free?
Yes. There is no account, no email, no watermark, and no limit on class size or number of charts. Charts print on US Letter in landscape.
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