What are some good office pranks?

Good office pranks are harmless, quick to undo and funny to the person on the receiving end: a garden gnome that moves to a new desk every morning, a desk roped off as a museum exhibit, a doorbell on the meeting room door, or the whole floor giving one coworker a standing ovation.

What pranks should you never do at work?

Never tamper with food or drinks, fake an emergency, touch someone's computer, phone, badge or accounts, or prank anyone's body, clothes or belongings. Skip jokes about looks, identity, health, money or job security, and never send fake layoff, promotion or HR messages.

Is it okay to prank your boss?

Only if they like a joke and their own manager says yes. A good boss prank flatters more than it teases, like a fan club or a framed gallery of their whiteboard sketches. Pranks should go sideways or up, never from a manager down to someone who reports to them.

How do you prank a remote coworker?

Keep it on the call or in the team channel: everyone shows up in chef hats for a fake cooking class, sips their coffee in sync, or writes like a pirate for an hour. Never change anything on their computer or accounts.

Can you get in trouble for pranking at work?

Yes, if a prank breaks company policy, damages property or upsets someone. Check your handbook, ask the manager first, keep it reversible, and apologize and undo it right away if the person isn't laughing.

What can a team do instead of pranks?

Try a spot-the-change game, a caption contest or made-up monthly awards. For an hour where everyone laughs together, book a hosted virtual improv workshop or team games.

Fun at work

30 harmless office pranks your coworkers will laugh at too

Desk pranks, office-wide gags, remote pranks and a few for the boss. Every one is kind, cheap and gone by the end of the day.

KraftyLab TeamUpdated Oct 20267 min read

A woman with a coffee laughs as she finds her desk and chair covered in yellow sticky notes while four coworkers grin nearby.

The best office pranks are harmless, take minutes to undo and are funny to the person they’re played on: a garden gnome that moves desks every morning, a desk roped off like a museum exhibit, or the whole floor giving one coworker a standing ovation. Skip anything involving food, fake emergencies, computers or someone’s body, ask the manager first, and clean up the same day.

The rules for pranking at work

A prank is only funny if the person it's played on laughs too. These seven rules keep it that way.

Ask the manager first. For a prank on the boss, ask their manager. A no is the end of it.
Pick someone who likes a joke. Never prank someone in their first month, on a deadline, having a hard week, or who has said no to pranks.
Only prank sideways or up. Managers can join a team prank, but never single out someone who reports to them.
Stay off the hard limits. No touching food, no fake emergencies, nothing on computers, phones, badges or accounts, nothing on someone's body, clothes, bag or photos.
Joke about things, not people. Looks, identity, health, money and job security are never the punchline.
Make it undoable in ten minutes. No damage, no cost, and you clean up yourself the same day.
Be there for the reveal. If they don't laugh, say sorry and undo it on the spot.

10 desk pranks

Set these up while your coworker is in a meeting. Everything sits on top of the desk and lifts off in minutes.

The traveling gnome. A garden gnome shows up at a new desk every morning with a postcard about its trip.
The desk museum. Rope off the desk with ribbon and add a placard: "The Desk of Dana, est. 2021. Do not touch."
The jungle desk. Borrow every potted plant on the floor, circle one desk with them, and return them by 5.
The cup pyramid. Stack 100 empty paper cups into a pyramid in the middle of the desk.
The tiny twin. Build a dollhouse-size copy of their desk, with a tiny mug and plant, and set it in the corner.
The paper lifeline. Link their desk to the coffee machine with a paper chain tagged "So you never get lost."
The sabbatical return. After one day off, greet them with a banner and foil balloons: "Welcome back from your sabbatical."
In memory of the stapler. Tape an outline of a stapler on the desk with a tiny sign: "Gone but never forgotten."
The fan mail. Fill their desk tray with handwritten fan letters from admirers of their spreadsheets.
Gone fishing. While they're in a meeting, prop a toy fishing rod and a "Gone fishing" sign on their chair.

Planning for April 1? Our April Fools pranks for work has 45 more, none of them repeated here.

8 pranks for the whole office

Nobody is the target here, or everyone is. These work best when half the office is in on it.

The standing ovation. When one coworker walks in, the whole floor stands and claps. Nobody explains.
Slow motion. When they walk into the kitchen, everyone moves in slow motion for ten seconds.
Face the wall. Everyone in the meeting room sits facing the back wall when the last person arrives.
The meeting room doorbell. Stick a battery doorbell by the meeting room door with a "Please ring" sign.
The elf door. Fix a tiny painted door to the baseboard with removable tape: "Office elves. Knock first."
The box of oddities. Put out a new lost and found box holding one snorkel, a third-place trophy and a bowling pin.
Kitchen birdsong. Hide a small speaker in the kitchen plant playing quiet birdsong. Switch it off by lunch.
The office gazette. Leave a one-page fake newspaper in the kitchen. Headlines are about objects, never people.

6 pranks for remote teams

Video call and chat pranks that need no access to anyone's screen or account.

The wrong meeting. Everyone joins in aprons and chef hats and asks the last arrival when the cooking class starts.
The synchronized sip. On a signal in the chat, the whole team sips from their mugs at exactly the same moment.
The ad break. Midway through standup, someone announces a short ad break and pitches their favorite pen.
The real one. A teammate joins again from a second device, renamed "(the real one)", and calls the first an impostor.
Pirate hour. For one hour every message in the team channel is written like a pirate. Nobody mentions it.
Golf clap updates. Each time someone finishes their update, the whole team gives a quiet, polite golf clap.

6 pranks to play on your boss

Only with the go-ahead from their own manager, and only for a boss who laughs at themselves.

The throne. Dress their chair with a cushion, a paper crown and a sign: "Reserved for leadership."
Catchphrase bingo. Print bingo cards of their favorite sayings for the next all-hands, and let them play too.
The fan club. Everyone wears a lanyard reading "Official member, Priya's fan club" to the next meeting.
The arrivals hall. When they're back from vacation, the team waits at the door holding airport-style name signs.
The quote calendar. Leave a desk calendar with one of their sayings on every page.
The early works. Frame their best whiteboard sketches from meetings and hang them as a gallery called "Early Works".

Prank-free ways to get the same laugh

Some teams would rather nobody be the target. These keep the surprise and let everyone in on the joke.

Spot the change. Each morning one person changes one small thing in the office. First to spot it picks the next change.
The kindness ambush. Pick a coworker and fill their day with small surprises: a thank-you note, their favorite song, a coffee.
The caption contest. Post a photo of something odd in the office and vote on the best caption by Friday.
The made-up awards. End the month with paper trophies for Best Reply-All Recovery and Most Creative Calendar Block.
Wrong-hand portraits. Everyone draws the team mascot with their other hand in 60 seconds. Hang the results.
Joke of the day. One clean joke in the team channel every morning, picked by a different person each week.

Need a joke for joke of the day? Start with our jokes for work, then see fun activities at work for more.

Get the whole team laughing at once

A prank makes one person laugh. A hosted hour makes the whole team laugh at the same time.

Five coworkers laugh together around a meeting table with coffee cups and a few balloons.

KraftyLab books live-hosted virtual improv workshops and virtual team games for remote and hybrid teams. A host runs about 60 minutes of games and silly challenges, so nobody has to be the punchline. Sessions run on Zoom by default, or Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request. Book about 2 weeks ahead.

Not sure which fits your team? Send your date and headcount and get a free quote within 24 hours.