12 Office April Fool's Pranks to Get Your Co-Workers Good This Year

How excited will everyone be when they see a box of donuts on the lunchroom table? Excited, that is, until they open the box to find it filled with broccoli or raw Brussels sprouts. (Womp womp!) Give the gag a slightly different twist by bringing in real donuts that look very appealing… but label the box “April Fool's!” and see who’s willing to brave the unknown for a free treat.

RELATED: 11 Best April Fool's Pranks to Try This Year

Leave a note on a key piece of office machinery — say, on a copy machine or the elevator button panel — indicating that the systems were recently upgraded and are now operable by voice command. Then amuse yourself as you watch (and listen) as co-workers futilely test out the “new" technology.

This one’s as analog as office gags go, but it’s an enduring classic: Drop your colleague’s stapler, tape dispenser, or other office supplies into a jello mold, and serve it up on their desk for an April Fool’s gag. (Yes, this one was a Jim Halpert favorite!) Just don't use anything valuable that could break.

If you covertly cover the sensor on the underside of your co-worker’s mouse, they’ll fiddle with it futilely trying to figure out why it’s not working… until, finally, they’ll flip it over to discover the obstacle is your Post-It note. Make sure to scrawl an April Fool's message on it — whether or not you identify yourself as the culprit is up to you.

Even a modest liquid spill from lunch can destroy a computer in an instant. So give your co-worker a brief jolt of April Fool's panic with a harmless gag that looks like a major mess. To prep this gag, pour out a substantial volume of white glue onto a sheet of wax paper. Once dry, transfer the dried object that looks like it could be a fresh spill onto their keyboard. Set an open carton of milk nearby for an added convincing touch.

Beat your colleague to the office for the day and use tape to secure an air horn under their swivel chair. When they sit down, they’re in for a rude April Fool's surprise … as is everyone else within earshot!

Bring a tub of crayons or colored pencils to work, and use them to swap out every other grownup utensil around the office until there’s nary a pen or pencil left for serious tasks.

Beat your office mate to their desk and flip the display of their computer screen fully upside down. This might sound complicated, but it can actually be accomplished with a few simple keystrokes in system preferences (and can be undone the same way when the fun is over).

This may not be the most environmentally friendly of pranks, but it sure makes a big impact. Use enough plastic wrap from industrial-size rolls to wrap your co-worker’s desk — or the entire cube — in the stuff. Or try it with gift wrap for a more festive look.

Tape a message or photo to the underside of the top door, and that image will appear on every single photocopy attempted by unsuspecting office mates.

If your coworker depends on a keyring to get through the office day, try spiriting it away for a moment while you add a sizable stack of unmarked keys to the mix. Then watch them try to figure out how to get into those locked doors with so many unrecognizable keys muddying up the mix.

All you need to rearrange the letters on your co-worker’s keyboard is a letter opener or screwdriver to pop off the key caps. Rearrange them just subtly enough to be confusing — or go big by rearranging them to spell a custom message. (Then be a doll and help reorder them when the prank is done!)