Requirements:

• Time (low) – takes little to no time changing your vitcim’s Google language settings.
• Cost (low) – no cost at all.
• Risk (low) – you’re really not risking anything except messing up your coworker’s Google page, but it’s easy to reverse so you should be fine.

Steps:

1. When your coworker leave’s their computer for a moment, hop onto it and head to the Google search page.
2. Click on the “preferences” link next to the Google search box.
3. Change the interface language at the top to something fun (such as Elmer Fudd or Hacker)

Result:

When your coworker gets back to their desk, the next time they pull up a Google search they will be greeted with the results of your prank. Depending on the language you set, the effect will range from obvious and over-the-top to subtle and perhaps not even noticeable for awhile.

Keep in mind that this only changes the Google interface language, not the actual search results. This may lead them to believe that it’s Google pulling the prank, thus making them think they have to deal with it for awhile.

Tags: office prank, April Fool’s prank, Google prank

1. People know it’s April Fool’s Day
   Let’s face it, most people are going to be overly cautious during April Fool’s Day – making your job that much more difficult. You can use this to your advantage though. Pulling off your pranks a day or two before or after April 1st may be enough to catch some people off guard. For those potential victims who are extra tough to prank, why not do a small, simple prank on the 1st (such as Bugged or Creamed) and then follow it up with a much bigger prank the next day or two (like Packed In). They may think your initial prank was the whole kit-and-kaboodle, thus letting their guard down for the real prank.
2. Get as many people in on your pranks as possible
   The great thing about pranking coworkers is that you’ve got a large supply of helpers and witnesses to enjoy the outcome with. Bring in as many coworkers as possible to help you out to make it a group effort and you will all enjoy it that much more (not to mention have that many more people to laugh at your victim).
3. Take pictures or video
   You don’t want your prank to be forgotten any time soon, so be sure to take pictures and video if at all possible. This means recording the preparation as well as the outcome. Once the prank is over, you can probably find some good use for your photos by placing them on bulletin boards in the break room, on your desktop wallpaper, and maybe even put them on your company website for an office morale boost.
4. Remember that you are still an employee!
   Probably the most imporant tip that I can give is to remind you that you are still an employee of a company and that whatever prank (or pranks) you decide to pull off must be done so delicately. Make sure your pranks don’t overly hurt anybody’s feelings or do much property damage. The best thing you can do is to get approval by a higher up before doing anything. If you do your pranks in good fun and choose victims with a great sense of humor, you can limit your risk for repercussions.

Tags: office pranks, april fool’s day, prank tips, pranking coworkers

Requirements:

• Time (low) – takes next to no time at all to hide in a box.
• Cost (low) – if you have a big enough box already it’ll cost you nothing, but even if you find yourself boxless, you can find them cheap at all sorts of stores.
• Risk (low) – as long as you don’t give any coworkers heart attacks you should be fine.

Steps:

1. Get a box that’s big enough for you to fit in.
2. Put the box in a strategic location for scaring your victim. Some key places include near the elevator, near a coworker’s cubicle, or in the break room.
3. Get in the box and wait for your victim to come.
4. Jump out and scare your victim using whatever means necessary (screams, arm movements, etc.)

Result:

You should be able to give a good scare even with some people being prepared for such pranks near Halloween. You can probably pull off the prank multiple times on different coworkers as long as word of your pranking doesn’t spread. You can target specific coworkers by putting the box near their work stations and putting a letter on the top saying the box is a delivery (though it could be a little obvious) or you can position the box in a highly trafficked area and just scare as many people as you can as often as you can. You can choose to decorate yourself and add to the contents of the box for added effect – such as wearing a scary costume and/or mask and holding props such as rubber snakes.

Below is a video demonstrating the prank being pulled off in an office environment.

Tags: office prank, Halloween prank, scary prank

Requirements:

• Time (medium) – you’re going to be building a wall, or at least highering somebody to build a wall, this takes time.
• Cost (high) – to make a really convincing wall, you’re going to want to get the right materials and probably higher somebody who knows what they’re doing.
• Risk (high) – as I mentioned earlier, you had better get some approval beforehand because you’ll not only be wasting many people’s time, you’ll also be modifying the layout of your office temorarily.

Steps:

1. Choose a hallway or office you want to block off with a wall.
2. Hire somebody who knows what they are doing (or pick up a “Walling Up an Office Hallway for Dummies” book) and get a new wall built.
3. Put plants, paintings, drinking fountains, and any other objects you can think of around the new wall to make it look more permanent.

Result:

For the best results, you should definitely wall up a hallway that is the route to multiple offices, as you’ll be able to get the reaction of many more victims. If you’re looking for a less distracting and perhaps easier prank, you could just wall up an existing office by turning a door into a fake wall. Hopefully you’ll get some great reactions as your victims first wonder if they’ve made a wrong turn, then try to figure out if they’ve been moved and/or even fired.

Below is the video inspiration for this post that will hopefully give you a better idea of what you can pull off.

Tags: office prank, practical joke

Requirements:

• Time (low) – it takes very little time to install the clapper.
• Cost (medium) – you can pick up the Clapper fairly cheap from Amazon here and that’s actually a fairly fancy version.
• Risk (low) – as long as yu don’t install the Clapper on something critical, the risk here is fairly low.

Steps:

1. Install the Clapper on a coworker’s office device (montior, speakers, light, etc.).
2. Wait for clapping noises.

Result:

This prank is really a very straightforward prank. The success of the prank hinges on how you setup the Clapper. If your coworker listens to music a lot, obviously the speakers are a great target and the monitor is a pretty safe target regardless of your coworker’s daily routine. You could risk putting it on the computer itself (or even a power strip that controls many appliances), but you could potentially ruin your coworker’s work so I’d recommend against that.

Another thing to take into consideration is the noise level of your office. You’ll want to test the noise activation settings before setting it all up since the best effect comes when the victim’s appliances shut up sporadically and not constantly. You may even want to try using a couple different Clappers with different settings on different electronics so that they go off and on at different times.

Tags: office prank, the Clapper, electronics prank