Remember The Office pranks on Dwight? We can’t forget Jim’s office pranks and might want to recreate a few.
We also know how popular office pranks April Fools edition can be! If you’re looking for the best office prank ideas and are stumped on what to do for April Fool's Day, look no further! Use these hilarious office prank ideas to fool your coworkers and friends.
Office pranks are a great way of lightening the mood in the workplace. They are also a great way of having fun. In this article, we explore the many ways to prank your co-workers. While some of these are funny office pranks, easy office pranks as well as office pranks for birthdays. Scroll away!
Here’s our list of funny office pranks, prankster approved!
- Fish tank in the drawer
- Freeze Desktop
- Celebrity poster
- Wrap paper on cubicle
- Toilet seat photo
- Horn on the door
- Conference room balloons
- Sprout keyboard
- Ceiling ghost
- Chair fart horn
- Spider on the desk
- Family photo exchange
- Room freshener bomb
- Fake computer virus/update
- Mouse not working anymore
- Toy bat or snake
- M&Ms inside the desk
- Fake coffee spill
- Head in the fridge
- Up the decor
- Car key on the roof
- Eyes on the prize
- Swap keyboards
- Hide in the cardboard box
- Vodka in water can
- Jelly prank
26 Fun Office Pranks That You'll Love
1. Fish tank in the drawer
Decorate your co-workers’ drawer as a fish tank when your colleague is out of town. You can add some sand, pebbles, some toy fish and water ornaments to give it the feel of an aquarium. We recommend not adding any water or live fish in the drawer.
Once the colleague returns, they’ll be surprised to see a fish tank in their drawer!
2. Freeze Desktop
Take a screenshot of your coworker’s desktop and change the wallpaper to that of the screenshot. Next, hide the folder icons and other files which might give it away. Easy and effective!
3. Celebrity/Animal poster spam
Spam the entire cubicle with your colleague's favourite celebrity or an animal poster.
4. Wrap paper on cubicle
This is a tough prank to pull and requires a lot of meticulous effort and time. But it can be a really creative prank and makes for an especially great office prank for birthdays. You can make a funny birthday decor out of wrap paper. Don’t forget to reuse the wrapping paper!
5. Toilet seat photo
Paste a weird meme on a photo of the office toilet seats. This will surely get a few people laughing.
Nick Cage is the most popular figure and the patron saint of the pranksters!
6. Horn on the door
This prank is easy to execute, but not for the faint-hearted, It involves putting a honk that gets triggered whenever someone opens a door. You can also opt for something that is not as loud.
7. Conference room balloons
This is a certified way to skip meetings that could have been an email! Tough to execute but worth the effort. It is a great idea for office birthday pranks, where you can have a birthday celebration instead of a serious meeting!
8. Sprout keyboard
If your company policy preaches you to go green, this prank aligns with those goals. Put a lot of moist grains that sprout between the keyboard and keep it in the sunlight, viola, you have got sprouts.
9. Ceiling ghost
This prank works really well during Halloween! Put a cutout of a scary ghost in the ceiling opening. You can even do something on the funnier side if scary stuff is not your thing.
10. Chair fart horn
Really simple prank to pull off, whenever someone sits on the chair, they blow the horn! It is usually funnier if the horn can make a fart noise.
11. Spider on the desk
This prank doesn’t involve any spider! As the photo suggests, it involved a cup and a warning signal to make your coworker’s day a little uncomfortable.
12. Family photo exchange
This involves exchanging desk family photos of two different colleagues or, better yet, exchanging them with Vin Diesel’s photo!
13.Room freshener bomb
Tie the room freshener nozzle and keep it open for the entirety! Very easy to pull off, and has a high impact on making a coworker confused.
14. Fake computer virus/update
Create a fake computer virus and watch the panic ensue!
On your Windows laptop, press Win+R and type notepad
Copy the script from the description box of the YouTube video
Follow the steps in the video below using Notepad!
15. Mouse not working anymore
Block the infrared laser diode emitting out of the mouse by sticking a piece of paper underneath it. A simple prank that is easy to pull off.
16. Toy bat or snake
Keep a toy bat or a snake on the desk, in an inconspicuous manner! This is probably the oldest prank in the book and works like a charm every time!
17. M&Ms inside the desk
Fill your coworkers' desk with candies, preferably M&Ms. They might even like this prank and grab a few candies!
18. Fake coffee spill
Spill fake coffee on important documents or files with this prop. Let your colleagues freak out a bit before you reveal this is an elaborate prank. Bonus points for doing this right before a meeting *evil laugh*.
19. Head in the fridge
This is a classic dorm room prank, which can be replicated in offices just as easily. All you need is a head prop and some makeup to make it look real.
20. Up the decor
Cover the entire cabin or a cubicle with some fun decor like colourful balls, party decorations or paper confetti. This is a good way to irk people who leave early when it’s an office party!
21. Car key on the roof
Now, if you don’t want your teammates to leave early when it’s an office party, you just tape their car key onto the ceiling!
22. Eyes on the prize
This is harmless and a little idiosyncratic prank. Just paste some Google eyes on the office printer and coffee machine. Great for some laughs.
23. Swap keyboards
This is an elaborate prank that involves swapping Bluetooth keyboards and making your teammates freak out a little. Simple and effective!
24. Hide in the cardboard box
Hide in the box and jump out when your co-worker comes. Classic jump scare prank, not to be done with faint-hearted folks!
To tone it down, let your co-worker know that you will not be at work today and appear out of nowhere and surprise your co-worker.
25. Vodka in the water can
If your office has happy hours, it doesn’t do any harm to put some vodka in the water coolers! Note that this is not a prank in Russia.
26. Jim’s The Office Jelly prank
If you’re a fan of The Office, there is no way you aren't aware of this prank! Simple to execute, but difficult for the victim to clean up the mess after.
Conclusion
These pranks are a great way to maintain office morale and have some cordial fun. However, people have to be aware of the caveat that these might lead to certain discomfort among your colleagues as well. It takes time and effort to build a great culture and boost the morale of your teams, but with Ricotta the task of keeping your office engaged and happy becomes a cakewalk!
Don’t forget to check out our other blogs like funny Zoom memes, Best office gifts and Back to work memes.
FAQ: Best Office Pranks
What are some good office pranks?
Working in an office is usually a very serious affair. Here are some good office pranks to have some fun on your workday:
- Replace a coworker's mouse with a toy mouse.
- Turn the office upside down - literally.
- Replace keyboard keys in a fun pattern.
- Plastic wrap everything on a coworker's desk.
- Set the computer screen to an 'error' image.
The most important thing is not taking anything too far. However, if you want to prank someone, it’s best not to tell them what they’re in for.
What are some funny office pranks?
Some of the most popular office pranks are:
- Planting something in a colleague's workstation
- Hiding animal cutouts around the office to be discovered later
- Printing out fake memos and leaving them on desks or in common areas
- Putting up signs that seem like they're for other employees but are actually meant for everyone
What are the best office pranks when someone is on vacation?
Ideally, one should not be ruining others’ vacations. The best way is to prank someone once they return from vacation.
Where to buy office pranks?
Office pranks are a great way to relieve stress and have some fun. Websites like Amazon offer a wide variety of office pranks, so you can choose the one that suits your idea the best. The key to a successful office prank is to find something that will be funny to the whole office, not just you and the victim. So don’t get a prank item just because it amuses you, but think about what would be the funniest for everyone in the office.
