If you’re a practical joker, it’s likely you can’t wait for April Fool’s Day this coming week.
We don’t really blame you. It’s hard not to laugh at some of the tricks you hear people playing every year, like Google’s past “introduction” of the Morse code keyboard for the Gmail App.
So to aid in your shenanigans on Tuesday, we’ve put together a list of three keyboard and computer pranks you can play on your family, friends, and co-workers.
FYI, it’s best to only prank the people you know can handle it. Some of these might make the wrong person panic!
1. Keyboard Garden
For this prank, grab an old keyboard that you don’t care about or that doesn’t work anymore that looks like the one owned by the person you’re pranking. You can probably find similar ones at your local thrift store.
Normally, you’d also need some grass or herb seed and dirt, but because time’s running short for this prank, you can just grab some pre-grown grass or herbs from your local nursery (or from your front lawn, if it’s starting to grow back already).
Place the plants and dirt in between the keys. If you need to pull off the cover to get it in the keyboard, you can do so, but make sure when you put the cover back on that some of the grass or herbs are still poking through the cracks!
Swap out your victim’s keyboard for the garden one and await the cries of confusion. (If you try this on a mechanical keyboard lover, they might have a heart attack, which is why we recommended you choose carefully who to pull your pranks on!)
2. “Ghost” Typing
Everyone who’s done computer pranks before has likely swapped out keys on their victims’ keyboard, or maybe even adjusted the key mapping so nothing they type comes out they way they wanted to.
However, something even more hilarious is plugging in a secondary keyboard to their tower. This is a fantastic prank option to play on co-workers in the cubicles around you, since you can wire the keyboard under the walls and desk without them seeing it.
All you need to do once you’ve plugged in the second keyboard is keep it at your desk, and start typing random letters, codes, or messages to the person on the other end. It’s especially useful to type when you hear them start writing.
If you keep it simple at first, they’ll think they simply mistyped. Then you can ramp your way up from there until they’re wondering if they have a virus or were hacked!
3. Blue Screen of Death
Possibly the most evil prank you can pull (because it’ll freak out everyone you play it on), the blue screen of death (BSOD) trick is one of the most tried-and-true computer pranks out there.
You don’t need to be a techie to do this one, either. Simply download this free screen saver from Microsoft that mimics the real BSOD. Install it, and set the screensaver to show up in the amount of time you wish.
And there you have it. Your victim’s panic will settle in the moment he or she gets back from their break.
Just remember that whatever keyboard or computer pranks you choose to do on your friends, family, or co-workers needs to be harmless, or you need to be willing to accept the consequences. Other than that, have fun this April Fool’s!
Have you ever pulled any of these pranks (or any other fun ones) on someone you know? Tell us about their reaction!