15 Free April Fools' Pranks to Try This Year

If you find joy in pranking those around you, then the odds are good that April Fools' Day is one of your favorite holidays. While you may already have a few tricks up your sleeve, it's hard to deny that the best April Fools' pranks are totally free! Take a look at our April Fools' prank ideas to get started, and check out the deals we found on novelty gifts to up your prank game.

DISCLAIMER: DealNews can't be held liable if any of these April Fools' pranks result in a loss of friends, status, job, freedom, teeth (when your victim punches you), etc.

15 Free April Fools' Pranks to Try

1. Want an easy April Fools' prank to do at home? Leave a message on an upside-down cup that alludes to something horrible being trapped there. Put the cup on your kitchen floor where someone is sure to stumble upon it.
   
   
2. Wrap tape or a rubber band around your kitchen sink sprayer, so the trigger is held down. When someone goes to get a glass of water, they'll... open the fridge and grab the Brita pitcher. But when they go to wash their glass: POW!
   
   
3. Here's a classic April Fools' prank: put tape over the optical sensor of someone's computer mouse.
   
   
4. Grab your biggest knife, and cover it and your hand in ketchup. Run into any occupied room while screaming — just be safe about it and all that. If you're lucky, you'll get to hear your mom curse for the first time ever! (True story.)
   
   
5. Cover an open toilet bowl with clear plastic wrap. (You'll probably want to consider the cleanup work as your penance for playing this April Fools' Day prank.)
   
   

6. Find a sleeping person, fill their hand with shaving cream, and then tickle their nose. Replace the shaving cream with whipped cream for a more delicious prank!
   
   
7. Stretch plastic wrap across a doorway at shoulder height. Most people will walk right into it!
   
   
8. Here's another plastic wrap prank submitted by a DealNews commenter: if someone leaves their water bottle unattended, take the lid or cap off, apply plastic wrap, and replace the lid!
   
   
9. Another April Fools' prank submitted by a commenter: press the "print screen" key on a PC, paste the image into Paint, hit save, and set it as the desktop background. Move all the icons to the trash. When your hapless victim goes to begin their workday, clicking won't accomplish anything!
   
   
10. Here's an anti-prank: get some peanut brittle, break it up, and put it into a can. On April Fools' Day, snicker as you ask your housemates, "Do you want some peanut brittle?" They'll look at you like you're an idiot and pass, thinking the can is actually full of spring-loaded snakes. But it's not — the can is full of actual peanut brittle! ANTI-PRANK!
    
    

11. Here's one submitted by another commenter: take all of the dots out of your office hole puncher and pour them into the defroster of a friend's car. Then, turn their heater controls to defrost and the fan to high. When your buddy starts their car: snowstorm! The best part? Over the next several months, every once in awhile, a stray dot will pop out and fly through the air without warning. It's the prank that keeps on pranking!
    
    
12. Here's another one that's great for a work environment (though it may not work for every computer): when your cubicle neighbor gets up to grab some coffee, scamper over to their computer and press ctrl+alt+down arrow. When the chump comes back and realizes their monitor's display is upside down, they'll be so mad! Then, when they demand you change it back, you'll realize you have no idea how to restore it and you'll have to call IT. (And we all know those folks are a bunch of laughs, especially when they have to come fix some jerk's stupid prank.)
    
    
13. Print out the single word "PUSH" and tape it to a door that should be pulled. This prank is way more enjoyable when the word's taped to a glass door. (Not only because you can see the chump try to push a pull door, but also because glass doors tend to make very loud/embarrassing rattles and noises when incorrectly pushed.)
    
    
14. Use a pin (like from the back of a button or brooch) to poke holes around the rim of a plastic disposable cup so that it'll leak when used. Increase the excitement by then shuffling the stack of cups, so you'll never know who is going to pull the gaffed glass. It could even be you! Now that's an April Fools' prank: fooling yourself.
    
    
15. Ask to see your friend's new phone because you're thinking of getting that exact model. Then, quickly do these things: 1) Set an alarm for 3 am and 2) change the language. Hand the phone back while grinning wickedly. They'll see that you changed the language and be really mad, but they'll assume that's the extent of your tampering... until it's too late (or too early).
    

SEE ALSO: The 12 Best Things to Buy in April (Plus 7 Things to Skip)

Gosh, some of these April Fools' pranks are just cruel, right? Readers, do you have any more free April Fools' Day pranks you can pull at home or work? Tell us about them in the comments below, and maybe we'll add them to the list next year!