But fear not – for there are plenty of April Fools’ gotcha opportunities to take via text or on social media.
Want to prank someone, but aren’t sure what to do? Here’s a bit of inspiration to get the ideas whirring.
But keep in mind: pranks should be funny, not cruel – and everyone should be laughing along by the end.
Let’s take a look at your options…
The best April Fools’ Day jokes for texts and over social media
Congratulate a friend for a made up milestone
Post a status on your Facebook account, congratulating your bestie on their pregnancy/engagement/new job.
Make sure to tag their account in the post and watch them be flooded with congratulatory messages.
You could even get a few friends involved in the prank and have them all write individual posts to make it more believable.
Fake a celebrity meeting
Put your photoshop skills to the test and fool your friends into thinking you’ve had a chance meeting with your favourite celebrity.
Try not to pick someone too famous to make it more believable – you’re unlikely to have bumped into Kim Kardashian in Morrisons.
Elaborate the story by fabricating a strange remark the celebrity said to you, or a weird quirk they have, so your friends never look at them the same way again.
Pretend you have no idea who is texting you
Every time a friend texts you throughout the day, reply with ‘sorry who is this?’.
Play dumb and pretend you have no idea who they are until you’ve driven them mad.
Fake the adoption of an unusual pet
Post a picture of an undomesticated animal (for example a pigeon or a squirrel) and announce that it is the newest member of the family.
Give the animal a ridiculous name and wait for the confused replies from your friends to come rolling in.
Send a suspicious text to someone, then tell them to ignore it
Text someone entirely in song lyrics
Send a panicked DM over an accidental post
Bustle recommends this one. Simply text, WhatsApp or DM your friend saying something like ‘OMG, did you mean to post that on your Instagram? I really don’t think you did.’
And watch them freak out out in the replies.
Buy some fake piercings and send photos to your family
Become a facts bot
Change your logo
@emilyzugay#ad You should not laugh out loud or be surprised at how good my logo is @lolsurprise #ad♬ original sound – Emily’sTikTok.edu
Got a small business? An online brand? Or maybe you feel like announcing a fake project?
Take a leaf out of TikTokker Emily Zugay’s book and go for a, erm, interesting logo choice.
The ‘OMG have you seen this?’ text
Arguably, ‘rickrolling’ is the laziest April Fools’ Day joke ever.
Simply your pal you’ve spotted a click-worthy video or news story, and send the link, hoping they’ll click on it and be annoyed at themselves – and you. Or try it on your Facebook page.
If you don’t want to link to YouTube (where the Never Gonna Give You Up video has been watched over 1.1 billion times), you can use this bit.ly link for your trick here: https://bit.ly/3qMaF4M
Plus, if you are working – here’s a few classics for those stuck in the office…
Stealthily change their framed photos
It’s easy to get away with, amusing – and perhaps one to try and at home in the morning, too.
Make a colleague’s computer shut down whenever they click an icon
After pulling this prank, your colleague will have their computer shut down whenever they try to click a commonly used program.
To do it, go to their most-used desktop icon, right-click on it, and select ‘edit properties’.
Then go to ‘shortcut’ and change the target to ‘%windir%system32shutdown.exe -r -t 00’.
Get a bluetooth mouse
Install a bluetooth mouse on a colleague’s computer – then leave the mouse itself in a drawer next to you.
Whenever they’re at their desk, open the drawer – the mouse will move around, making your colleague’s cursor look like it’s flying around the screen for no reason.
Repeat until the rage becomes too much.
Install a hidden speaker
Install a bluetooth speaker under your colleague’s chair and connect it to your phone.
Load up some sound effects – air horns, sirens, whatever you fancy – and make sure you hit ‘play’ whenever they sit down…
Record an annoying noise on a dictaphone
Make a long recording of something infuriating on a dictaphone – whistling, clicking, beeping or whirring, for example.
Then hide the dictaphone somewhere, press ‘play’, and watch the chaos unfold.
‘Crack’ your colleague’s computer screen
Don’t actually do this – just download an image of a cracked screen, and set it as a screensaver.
Make sure it becomes active after 30 seconds or so of inactivity, so that when they come back after a break, they believe their computer is busted.
MORE : Is April Fools’ Day international? How it’s celebrated around the world
MORE : When does April Fools’ Day end? Rules, etiquette and history on jokes or pranks after noon
MORE : ‘We broke up over it’: 10 April Fools’ jokes that ended in disaster
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