April Fool's Day 2025: Why is it celebrated on April 1? Top 10+ pranks to pull on friends and family

April Fool's Day 2025: April 1, marks the beginning of the new financial year. But, it also marks April Fool's Day, and is definitely the perfect excuse to unleash your inner prankster and have some harmless fun with friends, family, and colleagues.

Whether you’re looking to share a good laugh with your loved ones or family members, or dive into the mischievous spirit of the day, we’ve got 10+ playful and entertaining pranks to try this April Fool’s Day 2025.

April Fool's Day 2025: Why do we celebrate on April 1?

The name comes from the tradition of playing practical jokes on April 1—like teasing friends and close ones. While the day has been celebrated for centuries, its exact origins remain a mystery.

It’s reminiscent of ancient festivals like the Hilaria in Rome, which is observed on March 25, states Britannica

April Fool's Day 2025: Best pranks to try on family members, friends and colleagues

Here are some classic April Fool's day pranks that you can try over texts, to fool your family, loved ones

April Fool's Day 2025: Best pranks to try on family, friends

1. Autocorrect goes wrong -Tell your friend: "My phone’s autocorrect is broken. If I type ‘hello,’ it changes to ‘cheese pizza.’” Then start texting random, ridiculous words like “Can you believe this cheese pizza is the best?” and blame your “broken” autocorrect.

2. Delivery cancelled- Your order as been cancelled. Click on this link to process the refund.

3. Fake help messages- Text your friend- “I accidentally locked myself in the fridge. It’s so cold in here. Send help!” After a few minutes, follow up with: “Never mind, I found the mayo. I’m good now.”

4. Hacked phone prank- Send a text- "Dude, I think your phone has a virus. Every time you text me, it sends me a cat meme."

Then, start sending random cat memes like there's actually a glitch.

5. Netflix spoiler attack- Text fake spoilers for their favorite show: “I can’t believe they killed the main character in Episode 5!!” (Works best if you haven’t even watched the show—just be extra dramatic.)

6. Wi-Fi password trick- Message your family group chat: "Guys, the Wi-Fi password changed to ‘AprilFools2025.’” When they complain, reply: “Oops, typo. It’s actually ‘Gotcha!’”

7. Accidental texts: Send: “Hey, I hid the body… oh wait, wrong person!” Then follow up with: “Oops, meant to say, ‘Hey, I made brownies.’”

April Fool's Day 2025: Best pranks to try on colleagues

Here are the best pranks to dive into, on April Fool's Day:

1. Frozen desktop

If you can access your favorite co-worker’s computer, take a screenshot of their desktop and set it as their wallpaper. When they log in, they'll be baffled as they try clicking on icons that just won’t budge. Bonus points if you add a sticky note saying, “Did you accidentally freeze your desktop?”

2. Mouse on strike

Grab some sticky notes, and make a tiny protest sign that reads, “I refuse to work today! - Your Mouse.” Tape it over the sensor, and for extra laughs, add tiny stick-figure coworkers picketing nearby. Watch as your colleague tries to figure out why their mouse suddenly “went on strike.”

3. AI-powered printer

If you and your colleagues use a common printer, this prank is bound to send giggles not just on April Fool's Day, but on any day. Post a fancy sign in the office printer area: “Congratulations! This printer is now AI-powered. Please state your print request and wait for processing.” Enjoy the confusion as coworkers nervously talk to the machine, expecting a high-tech response.

4. Have fun with office supplies

Bring some cheer into the office premises by decorating everything and anything with sticky notes. You can amp up the April Fool's Day spirit by drawing silly faces on each of the notes.

April Fool's Day 2025: Studio Ghibli style images to share after pranks

Here are some Studio Ghibli style images for April Fool's Day 2025 that you can share with your friends after you've successfully pranked them:

Studio Ghibli April Fool's Day prank

If you're a fan of Studio Ghibli creations, then you're probably aware of the popular April Fool's Day pranks. In 2019, the Ghibli community on Facebook, fooled everyone by announcing a sequel for the very popular Studio Ghibli anime Kiki’s Delivery Service, and stated that it would release in 2020.

They even crafted a fake poster, showing a distant relative of Kiki soaring on her broomstick, with a loyal black cat faithfully following along.

For the unversed, Studio Ghibli is a Japanese anime company which is known for its high-quality filmmaking with hand-drawn animation and rich storytelling.

Here's another April Fool's prank they did in 2017:

ChatGPT Studio Ghibli style images

Ever since Open AI rolled out ChatGPT's native image generation feature to free users, Ghibli-style images have sent netizens into a frenzy. The feature enables users to transform any kind of image into a Ghibli-style image.