array_rand()

The array_rand() function returns either a random key from an array, or an array of random keys from an array.

Syntax

array_rand($array, $number = 1)

• $array: The array from which the keys will be randomly selected.
• $number (optional): Specifies the number of random keys to be selected from the array. By default, it is set to 1.

Note: When trying to pick more elements than there are in the array, array_rand() will return NULL and throw an E_WARNING error.

Example

Consider the following array of fruits.

<?php
  $fruits = array("apple", "banana", "orange", "grape", "mango");
?>

To get a single key from the array:

<?php
  $randomKey = array_rand($fruits);
  print_r($randomKey)
?>

The above code might result in the following output:

2

To get three random keys from the array:

<?php
  $randomKeys = array_rand($fruits, 3);
  print_r($randomKeys)
?>

The above code might result in the following output:

Array
(
    [0] => 3
    [1] => 0
    [2] => 2
)

Codebyte Example

In the code below, the array_rand() function is used to select 3 random keys from the array $colors. The corresponding values are then displayed.

Note how the displayed values change every time the code is run.

us
Visit us
code
Hide code
Code
Output
Hide output
Hide output
Loading...
Run