These clever online pranks will fool everyone on the big day—or any day!
Everything you say is a lyric
Pick a song with lyrics that could plausibly pass as normal conversation—for example, anything by Taylor Swift, early 2000s pop or a dramatic ballad—and spend April 1 responding to every comment and DM exclusively with lines from that song. The goal is to stay in character as long as possible before someone catches on. Bonus points if you pick a song versatile enough to respond to wildly different prompts and still sort of make sense. “I’m shaking at the thought of you” covers a lot of ground, it turns out. You could also easily play this April Fools’ prank over text.
Nobody reads anymore
Share this link from NPR—titled “Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore?“—with a vague, concerned caption like “This is so sad” or “We really need to talk about this.” Here’s the twist: It’s actually a prank NPR set up specifically to catch people who comment without reading. The article instructs actual readers to like the post and say nothing, so anyone who comments is immediately outing themselves as someone who did not click the link. Sit back and watch the thread fill up with hot takes from people who definitely did not click the link.
Exciting news!
Post an effusive status on your own Facebook page: “OMG!!! Congratulations to my absolute bestie [tag your friend] on [milestone]!!!” The key is tailoring the milestone to your friend’s actual life but making the achievement something super random. (Think: “Congrats on knitting the world’s longest socks! Can’t believe you’re gonna be in the Guinness World Records!”) Tag them to make sure it shows up on their profile, where their followers will pile on with congratulations before anyone catches on.
For extra chaos, recruit one or two mutual friends to post their own congratulatory comments. The more people you have in on this online prank, the more convincing this April Fools’ joke will be!
Oops, wrong person
Send a friend a slightly mysterious direct message on TikTok or Instagram—something like “Thank you so much for the flowers, you really didn’t have to” or “Just opened the gift. I’m honestly in tears.” When they respond (confused, curious, possibly concerned), immediately follow up with: “Oh, my gosh, so sorry—wrong person!” Then go quiet.
A certain type of person will be unable to let this go and will spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what flowers, what gift and who the right person was supposed to be. We’re guessing you know exactly who that “certain type of person” in your friend group is.
New city, who dis?
Post a photo or video of a random far-flung city—somewhere you have absolutely no connection to—with a TikTok caption that’s vague but excited: “New chapter” or “Can’t believe I actually did it.” Then watch the comments erupt with “WAIT WHAT” and “When did this happen??” You don’t need Photoshop or any special skills—just a stock photo and a straight face. The longer you let it sit there before explaining, the better.
You are cordially required
Create a Facebook event for something completely absurd, and invite your entire friends list—or just your co-workers, who will feel like they have to respond. The key to this last-minute prank is the details: Make the title official-sounding (e.g., “3rd Annual Regional Spoon Audit”), write a very formal description with a dress code and agenda, and set the location to somewhere like a Panera Bread. The more earnest the event page, the funnier the RSVPs.
Memories!
Manufacture a fake Facebook Memory by posting as if you’re resharing something from the past: “5 years ago today I became a licensed cheese sommelier. Wild to think how far I’ve come.” The more mundane yet specific the fake milestone, the better. People will reflexively like it before registering that it makes absolutely no sense—and the ones who ask follow-up questions are the real gift.
You’re in every photo
Go to a friend’s Facebook profile—or your child’s (they’ll love that!)—and start tagging yourself in photos you’re not in. Their photos, their pet’s photos, their artsy sunset shots … you’re in all of them now, apparently. Your friend will be flooded with notifications, and if you tag yourself in photos from parties they threw without inviting you, that’s just an added layer of comedy. This online prank doesn’t require any account access or setup, but it delivers immediate, measurable results.
The one weird ingredient
For this April Fools’ food prank, post a totally normal, completely reasonable recipe, but bury one absolutely unhinged ingredient deep in the instructions where most people won’t read that far. Think: “Add 1 cup ranch dressing” in a chocolate cake, or “fold in the canned tuna” in a fruit smoothie. Caption it enthusiastically, and make sure to address the weird ingredient with something like: “I know it sounds strange, but trust me!”
The 10-minute warning
Post a status that says “Going live in 10 minutes with some BIG news!!!!” The next step? Easy. Don’t go live. Don’t follow up. Don’t explain. Just let the comments fill up with “What’s happening?” and “Are you OK???” and enjoy the chaos from a safe distance. If anyone presses you, respond only with “soon.”
Who are you, even?
Change your Instagram or TikTok bio to something weird, then wait. Good options: “Professional frog consultant. DMs open, start making money today!” or “Currently ranked #4 in the tristate area for competitive lounging—ask me about how to join!” Most of your followers won’t say a thing, but the ones who do will make it worth it.
Thanks for having me, brand!
Post a photo in the style of a sponsored post (good lighting, product held up toward the camera, etc.) and write a caption announcing your exciting partnership with a made-up company and their obviously fake product. Make it just convincing enough that people have to look twice, just like when fast-food companies pull their own April Fools’ pranks. The comments will be a mix of genuine congratulations and confusion.
No further questions
Post a completely mundane photo (your coffee, your cat, a parking lot, you get the idea) with a caption that implies something enormous has just happened: “Well. This is it. Everything changes now.” Then respond to every comment in the thread with “I’ll explain when the time is right.” Refuse to elaborate. This will drive certain people absolutely insane, and those are exactly the people you want to do this to.
The sequel that never comes
Post a three-second TikTok—literally just you looking at the camera with dramatic music—with on-screen text that says “Part 2 dropping at midnight. You are NOT ready.” At midnight, post nothing. By morning, you’ll have dozens of comments asking where Part 2 is, and that is the prank. There is no Part 2. There was never going to be a Part 2.
Having a big week
Use an AI image generator to create a photo of yourself doing something you would absolutely never do—summiting a mountain, competing in a rodeo—and post it as if it’s completely real. Caption it casually: “Big week.” Then watch your comments roll in. Also, maybe don’t even correct it after April Fools’ Day. There’s no rule that you can’t lean into these online pranks year-round!
Farewell, cruel internet
Post a sincere, heartfelt goodbye to Instagram. Make it a little long. Thank people by name. Say you’re stepping away to “focus on what really matters.” Then, 45 minutes later, post something completely mundane (a photo of your lunch, a poll about pineapple on pizza) with zero acknowledgement that the farewell ever happened. Do not respond to anyone asking about it. You were never gone. You were never even thinking about leaving.
The accidental Instagram reveal
On your main Instagram feed or Stories, post a message that’s very obviously meant to be a private DM. Something cryptic like “OK, but do you think they KNOW??” with no photo, no context, no tag. Just text on a plain background or screenshotted from your Notes app. Leave it up for an hour or two, then delete it and post a Story that just says, “I am so sorry to everyone who saw that.”
The beauty is that every single person who saw it will have a completely different theory about what you were referring to, and none of them will be right, because there’s nothing to be right about! The more specific and vaguely dramatic the fake DM text, the better. Pro tip: Have a friend comment something like “GIRL, CHECK YOUR PHONE” in the window before you delete it, to make it feel extra real. Warning: This April Fools’ prank might make your significant other a little nervous!
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. For this story on online pranks for April Fools’ Day and beyond, Laura Beck tapped her 15-plus years of experience as a professional humor writer for TV shows and magazines. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
