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Another April Fools’ Day has come and gone, leaving behind a wide range of emotions: confusion, frustration, and fright for those on the receiving end of pranks — and sheer delight for those dishing them out. It’s too bad it only happens once a year (then again, for some victims, once a year might be too much!).
To celebrate this annual ritual, last month we asked: What’s your BEST April Fools’ Day prank? We wanted your top-tier trick — something you either pulled off, fell for, witnessed, or heard about.
As we’d hoped, you delivered some absolute gems. Let’s take a look at a few of your hilarious hoaxes.
Colleague capers
Many community members confessed to pranking their innocent, unsuspecting, and defenseless coworkers by having a bit of fun with their devices and workstations. The mischief included:
- Swapping or deleting keyboard shortcuts
- Moving keyboard keys around
- Changing monitor orientation
- Switching the system language
- Replacing the desktop with a screenshot of the desktop (so nothing worked!)
- Replacing the browser icon with a shortcut to
shutdown -r -f -t 0 - Putting tape or stickers on mouse sensors
- Changing autocorrect settings on mobile phones
- Installing a program that delivers customized Clippy messages
- Swapping wireless keyboards, mice, or headphones
- Promising a “free mouse for everyone” and delivering a big basket of foam candy mice
For those about to prank: We salute you
Now, a special shoutout to three pranksters who truly went above and beyond.
First up: Burak Yavuz, who swapped out a colleague’s working laptop with a shattered one of the same make and model. When the unsuspecting colleague pulled the faux laptop from his bag, he thought it was destroyed — and was rightly horrified. Well played, Burak!
Next: DeeJay, who once took an old keyboard home, cut it cleanly in half using a bandsaw, and replaced a colleague’s keyboard with the modified version. When the colleague sat down and pulled it closer, the top half stayed behind. We would’ve loved to see the look on his face, DeeJay!
And finally, kudos to community member David who admits to not one, but TWO, stellar pranks. The first one involved taping some fishing line to the back of everything on a colleague’s desk, running the line down the back of the desk, pushing the chair in, and then finally tying the line to the chair. When his colleague pulled out the chair to sit down, everything went flying off the desk and onto the wall. We give you 10/10 for both effort and execution, David!
David’s second production involved buying a greeting card that played the notoriously annoying “Hampster Dance” song (you’ll find it here and have been warned). Well, David removed the music box from the card, opened a colleague’s keyboard, and wired in the music box so that it would play every time the shift key was pressed. It took his colleague THREE DAYS to figure out where the sound was coming from. Truly outstanding work, David!
Beware the backfire
Community member Ryan Sinnwell also shared an April Fools’ Day prank tale that had some unpleasant consequences, but fortunately turned out OK in the end. You’ll find Ryan’s cautionary tale in the comments here.
Best large-scale prank
We can’t skip over this legendary hoax, shared by community member Ron.
In 1962, a statue from Easter Island mysteriously appeared on a Dutch beach. The bizarre discovery made international headlines and drew thousands of visitors. Then, on April 1, the man who “discovered” it — artist Edo van Tetterode — revealed that he had created it as a hoax.
Yes, it really happened. Edo will forever be an April Fools’ Day legend. Read more about his prank here.
The winners are
Let’s be real: you’re all winners for taking a break from the often stressful world of IT to have some fun. (Also, did you know that being funny is scientifically linked to intelligence?)
But now, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Congratulations to Ryan Sinnwell and David, our randomly selected winners of a $25 Amazon gift card! Please email [email protected] to claim your prize.
New poll on the way
Thanks to everyone who participated in the April poll. Our new poll for May is on the way, and will be focused on security (think passkeys). Stay tuned!
