Random color generator: a new color in one tap
This random color generator gives you a fresh color every time you tap. The whole page turns that color, so you see it full size instead of in a tiny swatch, and its HEX code appears in huge type, with the RGB and HSL values below. It is free, there is no account and no app to install, and it works in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
How to use the color generator
- Generate. Press the Generate button, tap the big color code or press the Space bar. The page fills with a new random color.
- Choose a style. The sentence reads “Give me any color”. Tap “any color” to ask for bright, pastel or dark colors instead.
- Copy the code. Copy the HEX code in one tap and paste it into your design app, your code or a message.
- Go back. Your recent colors appear as small HEX chips. Tap one to bring that color back.
- Use as site color. Found a color you love? Press Use as site color and it stays as the page color on every tool of the site, from the wheel of names to the dice roller.
- Use your voice. Tap the microphone in the header and say “random color”.
The text stays readable whatever comes up. On light colors, white text would fade away, so it switches to a dark ink of the same hue instead of plain black.
HEX, RGB and HSL, explained simply
Screens make every color by mixing red, green and blue light. The three codes on the page are three ways of writing down the same color.
HEX
A HEX code looks like #3A7BD5. After the # come three pairs of characters: one pair for red, one for green, one for blue. Each pair goes from 00 (none) to FF (full), using the digits 0 to 9 and the letters A to F. So #FF0000 is pure red, #FFFFFF is white and #000000 is black. HEX codes are the usual way to write colors in web design and many design apps.
RGB
RGB writes the same three amounts as ordinary numbers from 0 to 255. #3A7BD5 becomes rgb(58, 123, 213): a little red, some green and a lot of blue, which gives a medium blue.
HSL
HSL describes a color the way people tend to think about it. Hue is the position on the color wheel, from 0 to 360 degrees (0 is red, 120 is green, 240 is blue). Saturation is how vivid the color is, from 0% (gray) to 100% (full color). Lightness goes from 0% (black) to 100% (white). Pastel colors are light and soft, dark colors have low lightness, and bright colors are highly saturated.
How many colors are there?
Each of the three channels has 256 possible values, from 0 to 255. Multiply them together, 256 × 256 × 256, and you get 16,777,216 possible HEX colors. If you looked at one color per second without stopping, it would take you more than 194 days to see them all. With that many possibilities, getting the exact same color twice in a row is very unlikely.
The colors are drawn with your browser's cryptographic random generator, the same kind of source used for security. Nobody chooses them for you, which is exactly the point: a random color can push you toward combinations you would never have picked yourself.
Ideas for random colors
- Design inspiration. Stuck on a palette? Generate a few colors, copy the ones you like and build from there. The pastel and dark options help when you already know the mood you want.
- Art prompts. Paint or draw something using the color that comes up. Pair it with the random word generator for a subject, and you have a full prompt.
- Games. Name something that color as fast as you can, guess the HEX code before you look, or let the color decide which team goes first.
- Classrooms. Show a color in full screen and talk about how it is made from red, green and blue.
- A new look. Give the whole site a color of your own with Use as site color. To change it again, use the round color button at the bottom right of any page.
Your colors and settings are saved only in your own browser. Nothing is sent to a server, and the generator keeps working offline once the page has loaded.