20 Quick and Easy Pranks to Pull on Your Co-Workers

I was sitting here at my desk thinking about the next prank I'm going to pull on the guy 3 cubicles down from me (we call him "stinky") and decided to put together a list of quick and easy pranks you could pull off on your co-workers. I've tested nearly all of these, and they can be great fun if executed properly. Most of them are very self explanatory, but if you need more expert guidance, feel free to drop me an e-mail, and I'll be glad to assist.

"Post-it Note" their desk. I mean really saturate the desk, chair, computer, file cabinets...etc. If you can pull this off after they leave Friday night, so they come in Monday morning and have to spend an hour peeling them off, it will really piss them off!

Tape over optical mouse lens. This simple, yet quick prank will render their optical mouse useless. It will take them at least 3-5 minute to figure out what's going on. All you need is one little strip to cover up the optical sensor on the bottom. The confusion factor is great!

Keyboard key "switcheroo." A simple, yet classic prank. Switch around the M&N, I&U, or whatever you think would work best. I find that the most subtle changes are the most effective! Shaving cream lunch. This is one I used to get back at a fellow prankster after he pulled one off on me. He just so happened to bring his lunch everyday, and when he left to use the restroom, we completely filled his lunch box with Barbasol. Bologna and shaving cream doesn't taste very good from what he says.

Packing peanuts. This one takes a little more time and planning, but worth it. If your co-worker has a cubicle that has 3 sides and only one entrance, then listen up. Seal off the opening with plastic/shrink wrap, and proceed to fill up the cubicle to the top with packing peanuts. Cover everything! This will literally take hours to clean up, and you can laugh the whole time. Especially fun on Mondays.

Chair anchor. Quick and easy one here. Get some rope or twine, and a roll of duct tape. Wait until they leave for a meeting, and proceed to tie a rope from their chair to an anchor point under the desk. Then tape up 2 of the wheels that are under the desk with duct tape. This will piss them off royally, as they will have to get under the desk to untie everything. Great fun!

Phone goo. One of my favorites by far! Wait until victim leaves desk for the restroom or meeting. When they are gone, fill up their desk phone ear piece with hand sanitizer/lotion/some sort of gooey stuff. Gently place phone back in to place, and as soon as they sit back down, have the secretary page them or call their phone from another desk and watch them get creamed in the ear. This one is so funny! Conference call. Call one of your co-workers who likes to complain and moan about the boss. Tell him to "hold on a sec" right in the middle of the rant and then conference your boss in. Tell your boss to hold on, and then conference. Tell Johnson you're sorry for the interruption, and to continue on with his complaints. Caution - only use this if you want to get someone fired.

Eternal hold. Feel like being a jerk? Call a co-worker, make it appear that your talking about something important for about a minute, then tell him to hold on. Press hold button. I always time it to see how long they'll actually hold. For even better results, rinse and repeat.

Fake meeting. Send out a memo about a last minute meeting taking place at the furthest end of the building. Mention that the boss is upset, and everyone better be there on the double. Fun stuff.

Bob quit. Convince someone that is pimping for Bob's position that he quit. Get several people involved if necessary. Watch the look of disappointment on their face when they find out he really didn't quit. This one can be quite fun with enough people in on it!

Decaffeinate. If you're the morning coffee slave, get everyone a nice hot cup of decaf. Especially fun on a Monday or Wednesday morning. Talk about taking the wind out of their sails!

Random word. Another classic, but so much fun! As you make calls throughout the day, make it a point to throw in a totally left field word. Like "tuna sandwich", or "Bill Gates". Take a tally of how many times you can say it before someone catches on. Inter-office bets can make this interesting!

Thumbtack chair. This one can cause a slight amount of pain. Most of us don't look at our chair when we sit down, so to exploit that, put a couple small tacks in Bob's chair when he's off using the restroom, and watch him hit the ceiling when he comes back and sits down.

Inky cup. Quick and effective. A lot of us leave our coffee cups on our desk. After your victim is gone for the evening, or early in the morning, feel free to take the ink from a stamp pad, or even a sharpie, and color the rim of his coffee cup. It will make for a nice mustache in the morning! *make sure ink matches cup*

Snake in a can. Another classic - pick up a joke snake in a can or something similar, place in desk, watch them jump.

"Shrink wrap my ride". This one is so much fun. While the victim is distracted, grab the closest roll of shrink wrap, head out to the parking lot and proceed to make several rounds around their car. This takes two people to do, but it's totally worth it! The look on their face as they try to open their door is priceless!

Re-park the car. No more explanation necessary. They will flip out when they think their car was stolen in broad daylight! You can have a lot of fun with this one. Hold it for a ransom if you're feeling froggy.

Spice up the drink. Another easy, yet effective prank. If they make the mistake of leaving their soda/water/tea unattended, dump in that "Hot Sauce from Hell" that you picked up in Mexico last year. Careful, this one could send someone to the ER. Make sure you pick the right victims!

Bangers. Do a Google search for cigarette bangers. Order a few packs. A lot of smokers leave their cigarette packs out on the desk. Proceed to load them up with these mini-explosives, and take a trip down to the smoking area with them. BoOm! It can convince someone to quit really fast.

I hope you are successful in deploying these quick and easy pranks. Most of these (around 90%) I've personally done myself, or have had it done to me. They work well and are cheap, if not free, and can really stir up a boring office environment.