30 Best Office Pranks Anyone Can Pull Off on April Fools’ Day
Updated: Apr. 16, 2024
Harmless and hilarious, these office pranks are the absolute perfect April Fools' pranks to pull at work
Hilarious office pranks your co-workers will love
Playing April Fools’ pranks at work can be tricky … but they’re oh-so-worth-it when you get it right. The best office pranks are ones that (obviously) won’t get you fired, or even close to it. But at the same time, you still want something that makes people laugh or confuses them enough to merit “prank” status and not fall flat.
We’ve rounded up our favorite funny office pranks to pull this April Fools’ Day. Before trying them out, make sure your co-workers (and boss!) have a funny bone. Good news: If they love April Fools’ memes, they’ll surely appreciate the pranks below.
When is a good time to pull an office prank?
Make no mistake about it: There’s an art to pranking, and a big part of that is knowing when (and where) to pull a prank. Lunch break? Could be a major hit. That super-important all-staff meeting in the conference room? Maybe not the best idea.
Of course, the appropriateness of these office pranks will also depend on the atmosphere at your workplace—you may be better off telling April Fools’ Day jokes in the break room. But if you know an April Fools’ office prank will be the perfect way to get your co-workers to laugh more and have a little fun together, we’ve got you covered. Ahead, we’re explaining how to pull off the 30 greatest office pranks we’ve ever heard of.
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What’s that smell?
Sneak some car air fresheners under your co-workers’ office chairs and watch as they try to sniff out the source of the new scent.
Eye see you
Stick silly googly eyes onto random objects—everything from the trash can to your colleagues’ computer monitors. Then get to work as you wait for the giggles to ensue.
Tiny employees
Plant tiny plastic figurines in unexpected places around the office. After hiding them among the condiments in the fridge and discreetly placing them on co-workers’ desks, sit back and watch your colleagues stumble upon these delightful surprises.
Blank pages
Here’s a sneaky office prank for the communal printer: When a co-worker is waiting on a print job, secretly add 10 blank pages to the pile. They’ll be scratching their head and wondering why these extra pages appeared out of nowhere. Bonus points if you add the blank pages to the middle of the stack.
Post-it problem
Add pizzazz to the office’s decor by decorating everything and anything with sticky notes. Amp up the fun by drawing silly faces on each of the notes. You’ll get bonus points if you work with a lot of Capricorns—this zodiac sign appreciates a good office-supply prank.
Coin collector
Surprise your favorite co-worker with a mystery that builds throughout the day. For this office prank, sneakily drop a coin onto their desk before they arrive at work. Then add another coin whenever they’re not looking—when they’re in a meeting or make a trip to the bathroom, for instance. It might take your colleague a while to notice something fishy is going on. But imagine the look on their face when they realize they’re collecting a treasure-trove of pennies, quarters and dimes. Come to think of it, they may consider this more of a blessing than a prank!
New office mate
Place some sealed moving boxes in your co-worker’s cubicle or office. When they ask about them, just say you heard a new employee is starting today. It’s the perfect recipe for confusion. They’ll wonder why they weren’t informed of this earlier—and why they have to share their workspace.
Stuffed animals
Picture this: an office or meeting room filled to the brim with cute stuffed animals. It’s like a scene straight out of a whimsical movie! Your co-workers won’t know whether to laugh or scratch their heads in confusion. Be a good sport and, after the prank reveal, offer to send a few stuffed animals home with them for their kiddos.
Voice-activated coffee
Here’s a fun and harmless office prank: Label the office kitchen appliances as “voice activated.” Then watch the hilarity unfold as your co-workers try to summon toast or coffee with their voices. Who knew appliances could be so entertaining?
New wallpaper
Time to turn your co-worker’s workspace into a gallery of random faces. Pick strangers from stock images or go with their celebrity crushes or favorite stars. Print out the photos and plaster them all over their office or cubicle, from the walls to their computer and even under their desk. The more photos, the merrier!
Gone fishing
This is a great April Fools’ office prank because they’ll never see it coming. And hey, who wouldn’t want to open a boring, old filing cabinet and find it filled with colorful fish? Actually, don’t answer that. Instead, find out how to pull it off: Remove the files from a frequently used filing cabinet. Line the drawer with a thick-ish plastic lining. Fill it with water, and place goldfish inside. If that’s too messy, place a small tank filled with fish in the drawer. Close the drawer and wait for your colleagues to find their new office pets.
Phantom music
“Do you hear something?”
“No, I don’t hear anything.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Liar! You hear something—a radio playing. And you know you hear it because you’re the one who set up this trick! For this office prank, find a small radio, set it to a station guaranteed to irk any sane person and put the volume on low. Remove a ceiling tile from above your victim’s desk. Hide the radio inside, then replace the tile. Keep denying that you hear any noises. “No, I still don’t hear anything. You sure you’re OK?”
Outfit parade
This might just be the funniest office prank yet. Mess with a co-worker’s head by bringing in multiple outfits and changing your clothes every 30 minutes or so. It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3.
Sound the horns!
With most office pranks, you have to hover nearby to know when someone has fallen prey to the prank. But with air horns, you’ll definitely know when someone’s been punked. This is a terrific prank for quiet offices—and it’s the perfect trick to pull on someone who has the office that should have been yours. Just remove the office-door bumper and replace it with an air horn.
Undie embarrassment
It started when we were kids—that dreaded fear of one’s underwear being exposed. Find a pair of old granny bloomers. Tear a few holes, and muss them up a bit before writing your co-worker’s name in them. Leave them on the bathroom floor and watch the shock unfold!
Warning: Save office pranks like this for co-workers who don’t get embarrassed easily. And be sure to fill everyone in on the joke afterward. Of course, if your pranks didn’t go over well last year, you may want to rethink trying again this year so you don’t cross the line into unprofessional work habits.
Ghost typing
This office prank is a fun way to slowly drive the guy or gal in the next cubicle insane. Write or rewrite whatever they’re working on without them knowing who’s doing it. You’ll have to thread your keyboard wire under the cubicle wall and plug it into the victim’s computer. (Or connect a wireless keyboard.) When you hear them type, that’s your cue to type too. But keep it simple at first—one keystroke or so, making them type on their (non-working) keyboard a few times in an attempt to figure out what’s going on. Then go wild with your typing.
Snack-time surprise
Work in an office where food is always in the kitchen? You can use that to your advantage on April Fools’ Day! Buy a pack of Oreos, then carefully twist the halves apart and scrape off the creamy inside. Replace the cream with mint toothpaste!
The upside-down glass of water
This is an office prank that could get messy, so beware (especially if you don’t want it to be one of those April Fools’ pranks that go terribly wrong). Fill a glass with water and place a thin piece of cardboard over the lip of the glass. Hold the cardboard down, then turn the glass over. Watch your victim try to figure out how to turn the glass over without causing a tsunami.
What a tease
This one may be the cruelest trick of all: Don’t pull off any office pranks on the big day. Yep, you read that right. This non-prank prank is easy: Leave cryptic notes warning that the big one is coming. Every so often, cast a furtive eye toward your victim, smirk ever so slightly, then continue with your work. At the end of the day, tell them they’ve been fooled.
All wrapped up
Get to the office early, armed with wrapping paper, scissors and tape. Choose your victim (carefully!), and wrap up all their office supplies using your tools. We’re talking every single pen and paper clip box. Bonus points if you wrap up their computer, monitor, mouse and desk. Because who doesn’t love getting a present (or 20) wrapped up with a big bow? It’s like Christmas came early!
Bathroom break
This easy office prank requires little effort but is sure to get a ton of laughs. Just print out some hilarious memes and tape them to the inside of the bathroom-stall door. When a co-worker uses the restroom, they’ll swing the door shut—and voila! A silly meme is there to greet them while on the toilet.
It’s a party
This office prank may require a partner in crime … and one with a large lung capacity, at that! Filling a conference room with balloons is no easy feat, but it sure is an easy way to get your co-workers to laugh. Buy a pack of multicolored balloons. Blow, blow, blow! Watch as people attempt to enter the conference room—only to find it occupied by bobbing balloons.
Note: If you have a very important meeting in the big conference room scheduled for April Fools’ Day, this may not be the best idea.
Spider, man!
No actual spider will be harmed (or even required) in the making of this prank. All you’ll need is a cup, a pen and some spooky words to execute this April Fools’ office prank. Write a note on a paper cup. Something like, “Beware! Big spider underneath—only lift when ready to squash.” Watch as your co-worker frantically searches their immediate work area for the imaginary missing spider.
Sweet surprise
This office prank makes a great April Fools’ Day prank for the kids too—because really, what can go wrong with a candy-covered prank? Start by clearing out a co-worker’s desk drawer. Line it with plastic before filling it to the brim with the candy of your choice, preferably something easy to scoop in and out, like M&Ms or Skittles. Watch as your co-worker opens the drawer and finds a sweet surprise. Cross your fingers that they’ll share!
Spill in aisle 4!
It would be horrible if those very important documents got soaked with coffee right before the big meeting, wouldn’t it? Give your co-workers an office fright by faking spilled coffee. Set it up on a pile of important documents, step away from the scene of the crime and watch your co-workers’ reactions.
“What’s in that Jell-O?”
Are there any fans of The Office here? If you’re a Dunder Mifflin aficionado, chances are you know all about Jim’s famous prank, when he put all Dwight’s office supplies in Jell-O. It very well may be the perfect April Fools’ office prank! We recommend using a stapler or tape dispenser, or something close to that size.
The case of the missing keys
For this office prank, snag a co-worker’s car keys. Tape them to the ceiling and watch as they look everywhere for their keys. Well, everywhere except right over their head. This simple but effective prank is sure to stop your co-workers in their tracks—literally. After all, how are they supposed to get home without their car keys?
Informal signature
If you love April Fools’ Facebook pranks, then this office prank is the perfect funny addition. Email signatures tell your recipient your job title, company name and contact information—you know, everything you need to get in touch when closing out a major deal. But what if, on April 1, it said something a little different? Add something silly to their email signature, like “No. 1 Dog Dad.” Just make sure it’s not inappropriate or embarrassing enough that it could negatively affect their work.
Doughnut delight
With this April Fools’ office prank, their tasty treat is about to turn into a healthy but incredibly weird surprise. Buy a box of Boston Cream or jelly doughnuts. Remove the cream or jelly, then stuff the inside with veggies. Watch as your co-workers bite into their “treats.” Who doesn’t get excited when they see a big box of doughnuts in the break room?
What’s poppin’?
A quiet office is a productive office … but not on April Fools’ Day! Cause a co-worker to create a ruckus by taping bubble wrap to their chair, desk and keyboard.
Additional reporting by Andy Simmons.
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest has been telling jokes for more than 100 years, curated and reviewed over the past 20 years by Senior Features Editor Andy Simmons, a humor editor formerly of National Lampoon and the author of Now That’s Funny. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our humor—including comical quips, pranks, puns, cartoons, one-liners, knock-knock jokes, riddles, memes, tweets and stories in laugh-out-loud magazine columns such as “Life in These United States,” “All in a Day’s Work,” “Laughter Is the Best Medicine” and “Humor in Uniform,” as well as online collections such as short jokes, dad jokes and jokes so bad, they’re great. You can find a century of humor in our 2022 compendium, Reader’s Digest: Laughter, the Best Medicine. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Originally Published: April 01, 2022
