How to Play a Harmless Computer Prank on Someone

Your friend just walked away from their computer, leaving it unlocked. Since they’re basically asking for it, this opportunity clearly calls for a prank. Nothing mean, like hiding the file for an essay that’s due tomorrow or using their Amazon account to buy yourself a new iPad. Just do a little something to puzzle them when they get back from the bathroom.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Zooming In and Out

You want them to actually use the program you're pranking, or the effort will be worthless.
It's preferable to leave it on their homepage so they won't be as suspicious when they go to use the browser. But some people set their homepage to a blank screen or they see icons of their most-visited sites. If that's the case, you should go to Google or a similar website that they often visit.
If you want to zoom out, scroll down or toward you. If you want to zoom in, scroll up or away from you. Go as far out or as far in as you can. You want to make it look as ridiculous as possible.
You don't want them to be suspicious the moment they see their computer screen. If you minimize the browser, they'll go to use it and be surprised by the sight of a really weird screen.
If they can't figure it out for themselves and they're getting really frustrated, you can easily undo the zoom. Just make sure you've had your fill of entertainment before you change it back.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Flipping the Display

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Gain access to your friend's computer. You don't have to open any windows or minimize any windows that are open. This trick will flip the entire display.
- Note that this only works on computers with Intel processors.
2
Press Ctrl+Alt + an arrow key. Depending on which arrow key you press, this key combination will flip their screen in the direction of that arrow key.
- If this doesn't work, you may need to enable Hot Keys. To do that, just right-click on the desktop and go to Graphics Properties. Under Hot Keys, make sure that "Enable Hot Keys" is checked.
All of their windows and their desktop display should be affected, so they won't be able to easily figure out how to fix it.
To do this, just press the same key combination that you used before, but end with the up arrow. So you'll be pressing Ctrl+Alt+↑.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Changing the Keyboard Layout (for Mac)

If you’re not familiar with Macs, it’s the icon that looks like a gear. If your friend doesn’t keep it on their menu bar, you can also get to it by clicking the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen and selecting System Preferences from the drop-down menu.
This will open the Keyboard options. You should see a general Keyboard pane with options like Key Repeat and using F-keys as standard function keys.
At the top of the general Keyboard pane, you should see a menu bar that also includes Text, Shortcuts, and Input Sources. Click on the last option.
On the left side, you will see a list of the keyboards they have enabled for their computer. To add to the list, you just have to open the source options by clicking on the plus sign.
5
Choose an input source and click “Add.” The different keyboards are divided by language. Once you select a particular language, you should see one or more options in the right window. You can pick your keyboard choice from there.
- There are a couple of approaches you can take. If you really want to freak your friend out, you could switch their keyboard to Cyrillic or Chinese characters. But if you want play a subtler prank, there are several European keyboards whose main keys are very similar to English. Both German and Czech switch the “z” and “y” keys while maintaining the usual QWERTY layout with modifications to punctuation keys. Other keyboards don’t use ⇧ Shift+2 for the @ symbol, but again, have largely similar layouts to the American version.
The option or options that you chose from the source menu should all be listed on the dropdown menu. Select your desired keyboard input from the list. Once you’ve selected a new input, the flag icon on the menu bar will change to that keyboard’s country of origin.
The flag icon should disappear from the top menu bar. The keyboard will change, but your friend won’t immediately notice anything different, and they’ll have to take a few extra steps to change the keyboard back.
Only do this if you switch to a keyboard based on the Latin alphabet. You want them to be able to get back into their computer eventually. But if the letters are switched around, as with the Dvorak keyboard, it will take them a little extra effort to unlock their computer.^{[1]XResearch source}
You just have to re-open System Preferences and return to the Keyboard preferences pane. Make sure that "Show input menu in menu bar" is selected, and then select the correct keyboard language from the dropdown menu on the menu bar.
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Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Changing the Keyboard Layout (for Windows)

If the Control Panel doesn't appear on the start menu, you can search for it using the search bar.^{[2]XResearch source}
There should be an option called Region and Language. Click the link to go to that window.
You should see an option called Change Keyboards. Click that to open the Text Services and Input Languages menu. If it doesn't open automatically to the General tab, click to go there.
A window with a complete list of keyboard layout options will appear. Scroll through the list to see what your options are, and think about which keyboard offers the best way to prank your friend.
Click the plus sign next to a language and then the plus sign next to Keyboards to open the complete list of keyboards available in that language. Once you have clicked and highlighted a keyboard, you should be able to click OK in the top right corner of the window.
It should show up along with the language that is already enabled. Click "Apply" in the bottom right corner and exit the Text Services and Input Languages window.
It may already be enabled. To check, right-click on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, and go to the Toolbars menu. Make sure that the Language toolbar is checked off. Depending on the version of Windows, you will either see a floating Language bar or a Language toolbar icon in the bottom right corner on the task bar.
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Click the language menu on the Language bar. It should be on the left side of the bar. Select the language that you want to use from the drop-down menu.^{[3]XResearch source}
- If you're using an older version of Windows, click the Language toolbar icon. It will probably just be the letters "EN," if you're working in English. Just click the language option and that should switch your keyboard layout.
This menu offers you the keyboard layout options. If you haven't enabled multiple keyboard layouts for the language you selected, you might be able to skip this step.
To close the Language bar, just click close. To hide the Language toolbar icon, right-click the taskbar, go to Toolbars, and make sure that the Language toolbar is deselected.
Only do this if you have enabled a keyboard that has all the standard English characters. Otherwise, they won't be able to get back into their computer.
Once you've had your fun, simply reopen the Language toolbar by right-clicking on the task bar and making sure that the Language toolbar is selected under the Toolbar menu. Follow the same process you used to switch the keyboard language, but change it back to the original language and layout that your friend was using before.
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Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Making Desktop Icons Unclickable

The screen should be completely clear so that only the desktop is showing.
On a standard keyboard, you just have to hit the prtscn button. This will copy the entire screen as an image.
If you don’t know where it is on your computer, you can open the Start menu and type "Paint" in the search bar. It should be under Accessories.
When you do this, the image of the desktop should appear in Paint. You don’t need to do anything to it, unless you want to. This step just allows you to save the image.
Save the image to the desktop so that you can find it easily. It won’t matter, because you’re going to hide all of the icons before your friend gets back.
The image of the desktop should appear as the background to the desktop. You’re almost ready to go.
There should be a sub-menu under “View.” Go to that menu and click “Show desktop icons” to deselect it. This should make all of the icons disappear.^{[4]XResearch source}
For ultimate impact, you want to make the taskbar disappear too. To do this, go to Appearance and Personalization, then Taskbar and Start Menu.
The taskbar should disappear from the bottom of the screen.^{[5]XResearch source}
Your friend will be unable to click on anything on the screen and will have no idea why.
Press the Windows key ⊞ Win on the keyboard. This will open the Start menu. Reopen the Control Panel and go back to the Taskbar and Start Menu under Appearance and Personalization. De-select "Auto-hide the taskbar."
Your friend should be able to access everything again once they have the Taskbar, but to make things easier on them, bring the icons back too. Just follow the same process: right-click the desktop, and go to View, then click on "Show desktop icons" to make sure that it's selected.
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Tips

Only prank friends or people who will definitely think it's funny. It is never appropriate to prank a teacher or other authority figure in this way. You want to have a little fun, not get into trouble.
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Helpful2 Not Helpful1
The best pranks are subtle or don't involve obvious fixes. If you can do something that your friend won't discover for several minutes, hours, or even days, they might not know that you're the perpetrator. Meanwhile, you'll have the satisfaction of watching their confusion as they try to figure out what happened.
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Warnings

Make sure you reverse this when you are done playing the prank or they might get mad at you.
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Helpful19 Not Helpful4
Don't prank someone who doesn't know how to use computers very well or might actually feel hurt by being the butt of a prank.
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Helpful4 Not Helpful0
Don't do anything unless you know how to undo it.
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Helpful4 Not Helpful0
Don't make someone else's computer crash or make it impossible for them to access it.
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Helpful3 Not Helpful0