Prank screens: harmless fake screens to fool your friends
A prank screen makes a device look broken, taken over or about to blow up for a few seconds, until the person in front of it notices that nothing is wrong. Every screen here is a normal web page: it installs nothing, changes nothing and closes like any other tab.
All 9 prank screens
Broken Screen Prank
PRANKFake Virus
PRANKFake Blue Screen
PRANKFake Dead Pixels
PRANKFake Mac Update
PRANKFake Windows Update
PRANKHacker Typer
FLAGSHIPNo Signal
AMBIENTSelf-Destruct Countdown
PRANKWhich prank screen should I use?
| Screen | What happens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Broken Screen Prank | Every tap or click adds cracks that spread from that exact spot, with some colour bleed around the impact. REPAIR wipes them all. | A phone or tablet you hand to someone. |
| Fake Virus | Filenames scramble, a bar fills and a timer counts down under a made-up CRYPTOLOCK header. When the timer runs out, or as soon as you fire REVEAL, the screen owns up with a big “Gotcha!”. It never asks for money, a key or a phone call. | An office desk, with you close enough to trigger the reveal. |
| Fake Blue Screen | A full-screen crash page with a sad face, a climbing percentage and a made-up stop code, in blue or four other colours. | A computer whose owner has just gone for a coffee. |
| Fake Dead Pixels | Dead and stuck pixels sit on a plain colour field. You can add a dead line, backlight bleed and flicker, and tap to plant more. | A monitor, ideally a new one its owner is proud of. |
| Fake Mac Update | A black screen with an emblem, a thin progress bar and a minutes-remaining estimate that never gets to the end. | A Mac that should look stuck in an update. |
| Fake Windows Update | Spinning dots, a “Working on updates” line and a percentage that stalls just short of 100. | A Windows PC that should look stuck in an update. |
| Hacker Typer | Whatever keys get pressed, convincing code appears on a green terminal. Enter flashes ACCESS GRANTED. | Letting a friend “hack” something by mashing the keyboard. |
| No Signal | TV static with a drifting NO SIGNAL box, as if the input had dropped. | The living-room TV or a meeting-room display. |
| Self-Destruct Countdown | A red timer counts down to zero between hazard stripes, with an ABORT button on screen. At zero it flashes and starts again. | A spare screen in a room people walk into. |
How to use a prank screen
- 1Open the screen on the device you want to prank and set it up under Customize, for example the crack colour or the countdown length.
- 2Press Fullscreen so the toolbar is gone, then walk away or hand the device over.
- 3Give it a few seconds, then resolve it: press Esc, use REPAIR, ABORT or REVEAL, or close the tab. Nothing needs to be undone.
Guides for prank screens
Harmless hacker prank ideas
More setups for these screens, and where to draw the line.
Prank screens FAQ
Can a prank screen damage the device?
No. The cracks, dead pixels and static are drawn on a web page. Nothing is installed, no setting is changed and no file is touched. Closing the tab or reloading the page removes everything.
How do I end the prank?
Press Esc to leave fullscreen and get the toolbar back, or close the tab. The Broken Screen Prank and Fake Dead Pixels also have a REPAIR action that clears the screen, the countdown has an ABORT button, and the Fake Virus has a REVEAL action that shows its “Gotcha!” screen at once.
What keeps a prank harmless?
It is over within seconds and both of you laugh. Do not use a screen to really frighten someone, do not leave it on a device that is needed for work or school at that moment, and say that it was a joke before anyone calls for help.