How to Troll Your Friends

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: May 23, 2022 References

Trolling is the act of messing with friends through things like phones and computers. If you want to have some harmless fun, find ways to mess with your friends using your phone, their phone, social media, or a computer. Keep your pranks lighthearted and in good fun to avoid annoying your friends. With a little clever planning, you and your friends can have a good laugh via your trolling.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using a Smart Phone

1
Send a "text in progress" gif. Many phones display an ellipses when you're typing a message. You can download a gif of an ellipses online, usually through an app store. A great way to troll your friends is to text them something exciting and, when they respond, text them a gif of the ellipses indicating you're typing. Leave your friend waiting anxiously to see your response.^{[1]
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- For example, text your friend something like, "I had the craziest thing happen to me today!" Wait until they respond with "What?" Then, text the "text in progress gif" so they have to sit and wait anxiously for a response that won't come.
2
Add the motion fart app to your friend's phone. If you can get ahold of your friend's phone, download the motion fart app and enable it. This is an app that makes farting noises when the phone is moved. Each time your friend goes somewhere with their phone, it will let out an embarrassing fart noise.^{[2]
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- Make sure the fart app you download is free. You don't want to spend your friend's money just to troll them.
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3
Make Siri call them a ridiculous name. If your friend has an iPhone, they may have Siri enabled. Take your friend's phone when they're not looking and press down on the home button to enable Siri. Then, instruct Siri to call your friend by a ridiculous, goofy name from now on.^{[3]
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- For example, have Siri call your friend by a silly nickname. You can also have Siri call your friend by a long, complicated version of their name.
4
Make it look like their home screen is frozen. Wait until your friend leaves their phone unattended. Take a screenshot of the home screen. Then, move all the icons to a different screen on their phone. In settings, change their wallpaper to the screenshot you took of their home screen. When your friend tries to click an icon, nothing will happen and they will think their phone screen has been locked.^{[4]
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- The precise means to take screenshots, move icons, and change backgrounds varies depending on the type of phone your friend has. If you're unsure how to work your friend's phone, look this up online quickly while you're altering their phone.
5
Spam your friends with pointless texts. There is a website called catfacts.co where you can sign people up to receive random cat facts throughout the day. This is a fun, harmless way to mess with your friend by spamming them with useless texts.^{[5]
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- You can also find other random things to sign your friend up for so they receive random text messages. Just make sure any of the sites you use are free. You don't want to stick your friend with an unexpected phone bill.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Trolling on Social Media

1
Use a fake check-in app to make your friend jealous. Think about places your friend has on their bucket list. Maybe your friend has always wanted to go to Disney World or visit a particular restaurant in your town. Download a fake check-in app for a social media site like Facebook and "check in" to your friend's favorite destinations. If your friend sees this, they may get jealous.^{[6]
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- You can even go as far as to tag your friend in posts to make sure they see. For example, tag your friend saying something like, "Thinking of you! Know how much you've always wanted to go here."
2
Tag your friends in random photos. People often get annoyed by unnecessary notifications. If your friend has a social media site like Facebook or Twitter, tag them in random posts or statuses. For example, tag your friend as a picture of a pan at your apartment. If you go to the zoo, tag your friend as random pictures of animals. They'll be bombarded with random notifications from nonsensical pictures.^{[7]
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- However, make sure not to tag your friend in a way that could be read as offensive. A friend who's sensitive about their weight, for example, may take offense if you tag them as a cow in a picture. Instead, tag them as something completely random, like a shoe.
3
Add your friends to random Facebook groups. If you can get ahold of your friend's computer for a moment, get on their Facebook. Join a bunch of random groups and like a bunch of random pages. This way, your friend's news feed will suddenly be full of random content.^{[8]
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- You can pick completely random pages. For example, add your friend to a page called "I Love Goats."
- You can also add your friend to pages expressing opinions or tastes your friend disagrees with. For example, maybe your friend hates Ayn Rand. Have them join an Ayn Rand fan page on Facebook.
4
Leave your friends nonsensical messages. Post messages on your friend's Facebook wall or send them tweets that are completely random. This will leave your friend confused and guessing as to what you mean. You can do things like leave links to random pages, like the IMDb page of an obscure film from a few years ago, or simply leave messages that don't make sense.^{[9]
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- For example, leave a message that looks out of context. Send them a Tweet saying something like, "Wow, that was epic. Never heard you laugh that hard!" Your friend will be left guessing what you're referencing.
5
Hack your friend's account to post goofy content. If you can get ahold of your friend's phone or computer, see if they're logged on to Twitter or Facebook. Post ridiculous tweets or statuses that would make your friend blush. For example, if your friend is a hardcore Democrat, post something like, "Vote Republican this November!"
- Make sure the content is appropriate, however. Avoid posting any NSFW (not safe for work) content or foul language.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using Websites to Troll Friends

1
Send them fake newspaper articles. There are many sites online where you can generate fake newspaper articles and then send them to friends. You can trick your friends into thinking a phony news story is true to troll them for an afternoon. Think of a fake story that will really bother your friends and get under their skin.^{[10]
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- For example, does your friend love a particular band? Send them a fake news story saying that band broke up to mess with them.
- Keep in mind, your friend may not believe the news story for more than a few minutes. However, it can be a fun way to troll them, even if it's only for a minute or two.
2
Create a meme of your friend. Online meme generators allow you to make memes using photos of your own. You can upload a photo of your friend to a meme generator and write a funny caption. Share it with a variety of mutual friends and have them post the meme on social media to mess with your friend for a day.^{[11]
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- You can also send the meme to your friend and claim that you found it on a big website, like imgur, so your friend thinks their photograph is becoming a popular meme online. Make sure you don't let your friend believe this for too long, however, as you don't want to cause your friend distress.
3
Face swap your friends. You can find free websites online that allow you to swap faces in pictures. Face swap a variety of goofy pictures of your friends and then post them on Facebook or send them to your friend to mess with them and get a laugh. You can find unusual images to face swap, such as face swapping your friend's picture with a baby picture or a picture of an animal.^{[12]
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4
Use voice changing software to call your friends. You can find software online that allows you to change your voice with the help of a microphone or smart phone. Using your altered voice, prank call your friend as a joke.^{[13]
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- For example, call your friend pretending to be from a credit card company or collections agency.
- Confess it's you before your friend gets too upset, however. Trolling should be lighthearted and you don't want to truly upset your friend.

Community Q&A

Question

Does any of this work on KIK?

Community Answer

Yes, it can work on KIK.
Question

Can I troll my principal?

Herobrine123

Community Answer

You can, but it is highly recommended you do not, as you can (and most likely will) get in trouble.

Warning

Make sure the pranks you play are in good fun and only target friends who can laugh at themselves. You don't want to accidentally damage a friendship with trolling.