Photocopier Paperclip Prank

by pranksgiving

60K21177

Intro: Photocopier Paperclip Prank

Office pranks are the best pranks.

Prank your coworkers by making all their copies come out with a paperclip placed on them. By replacing the paper try blanks with doctored paper that has paperclips already printed on them, your coworkers could have a mini meltdown looking for a paperclip on the copier tray that just isn't there.

This harmless prank is sure to frustrate your coworkers, and provide you with a few giggles. The best part about this prank is that it can easily be reset, ready to prank the next coworker!

STEP 1: Place Paperclip

place a paperclip on the glass of the photocopier. Most copiers need something on the bed in order to make a copy, place a piece of office paper over the paperclip.

STEP 2: Make a Copy

Make a few copies, you should now have a white sheet of paper with a paperclip on it.

STEP 3: Find 'up' in Your Printer Tray

Before you can place the paperclip paper back in the copier you'll need to determine which side to have your prank paper face. Some copiers flip the paper around when it gets fed through the machine, so it's important to know which face will be printed on.

I opened the feeder tray and put a mark on the top sheet, then closed the tray and ran a blank copy. After examining the result I determined that my copier printed with the feeder tray facing upwards. I loaded in my prank paperclip paper then set the printer to only feed from the prank paper tray.

STEP 4: Frustration Ensues!

When your coworker makes a copy the output will have a paperclip somewhere on it. In bewilderment they will open the machine to find the paperclip they think they left on the copier bed.

Sit back and giggle to yourself as your coworker looses their mind when making copies. They may eventually find the paperclip in the feeder tray, but not before searching for a paperclip on the photocopier that's not there.

Happy pranksgiving!

66 Comments

47th street 3 years ago

This is straight-up evil.














I LOVE IT!!!

dave.vaness.79 8 years ago

Instead of a paper clip, try this.

Write "HELP I'M TRAPPED IN THE COPIER!", Write it with a Sharpie and write it backwards. Make copies and intermingle copies with the supply of copy paper.

Catley 8 years ago

You've set me chuckling!

dreadeno 8 years ago

I love practical jokes, and for a practical joke to be funny, it must be both practical AND a joke. If it causes a loss of life, limb, eyesight, property, or marriage, it isn't very practical. This one has inspired me to go to work on Monday and to print about a half dozen paper clip pages and distribute them through the ream and a half of paper that our printer/copier/fax holds in our office. This way, they'll be random and unpredictable. I can only imagine the stream of engineers that would be sent in to observe our printer/copier/fax machine to try to determine what is causing this problem in order to provide a solution. Engineers, awesome guys!!!

mario59 8 years ago

really nice prank, good reason to wast some other paper... a thing the world needs right NOW! :-)

If one only thinks how much paper is wasted in offices worldwide in useless copies possibly never read... how much energy and chemicals are needed to make it a decent white, the energy to actually make it and... finally the energy required to print, the worldwide business around it.... whoa!

Are there still trees to cut out there?

leoned 8 years ago

Wow can anyone remember that it is april 1st and we to have fun and not dump on the day or person,comment in a way where you are superior to all or try to make others feel guilty from your own personal views,grow up a be an adult and act like a kid once in a while you will find it rewarding

FelisC 8 years ago

I don't get why everyone takes this so seriously. Reprinting documents is NOT a big deal.

FlorinJ 8 years ago

I'd just draw a paperclip in the copier's bed with a thin dark marker. The glass is pretty dark, the drawing would be pretty hard to spot, IMO. And it doesn't waste energy and cartridge life.

TheStuUurgE 9 years ago

Even better, put a normal paper clip in the printer somewhere for them to find so the print even more paper clip copies :)

Minecrafter18 9 years ago

I know that using paper for pranks is a waste, but pranks are okay to do every once in awhile, and just let it go, because you are going too far with this! At first, you were just reminding people of what a waste it could be, but now you're being rude, and you're starting to say things you probably wouldn't say to these people in real life. Please don't be a bully. Thank you!

morgano 10 years ago

I guess that all depends on which costs you're including. It's hard to put a price on a planet. Small actions add up- are you making small positive changes, or are you trashing the planet one baby step at a time? It seems to me that some people here are really getting fired up over what started out as a fairly innocent comment. I was simply encouraging people to think about the greater impact of their decisions when they consider pulling a "harmless" prank.

Foaly the Centaur 9 years ago

I suggest you ground yourself back in reality. Humans will be humans,
for human nature is constant and unchanging. Understanding that, people will pull pranks, and this is relatively harmless.
Paper is a renewable resource, and often used as the standard for quick
bio-degradation. This doesn't even use much of it; a TPing with a single
roll of toilet paper uses a magnitude more resources. If you're looking
for a cause, try something more meaningful.

pbyron rtc 10 years ago

Craziest thing I ever saw. A month ago I set this prank up by putting 10 of these sheets in the middle of a paper stack in the tray of a not-often used photocopier, in my office. I actually forgot about it. Today, April 1st, of all days, someone finally got one of the paper clip sheets. Great comradery building confusion and laughs followed.

morgano 10 years ago

Did you know that it takes 2.6 gallons of fresh water to manufacture one sheet of paper? I don't even drink that much water in one day! I like pranks as much as the next guy, but this to me just seems wasteful of natural resources. Let's start living in the real world, huh?

Enkeim 10 years ago

then use Recycling Papet it saves Water, Energy and Trees don't have to be killed ;) (y)
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