What is the broken screen prank?
The broken screen prank fills your whole screen with realistic damage: cracked glass, a black ink bleed where the panel is crushed, and flickering red and green lines, so a working computer or phone looks smashed. It is completely harmless: the cracks are drawn by the browser and disappear when you press Esc or close the tab.
How to do the broken screen prank
- Take a screenshot of the computer or phone you want to break and choose it under My screenshot.
- Pick how smashed it should look (one hit, two, or smashed) and whether the screen shows flickering colour lines.
- Press Start the prank. The page goes full screen and the mouse pointer hides after a moment.
- Leave the device for your friend. Each click or tap cracks the glass again.
- Press Esc, or swipe back on a phone, to end it.
Tips to make it convincing
- Use a screenshot of the real desktop or home screen; a black screen looks like the display died.
- Start with one hit. A single impact point looks more real than a fully shattered screen.
- On a laptop, close other windows first so the screenshot matches what they expect to see.
How does the fake cracked screen work?
The page takes your screenshot and draws it in full screen, then paints the damage on top: shards of glass with sharp highlights spreading from the point of impact, a dark ink-like patch where an LCD panel would leak, and thin coloured lines that flicker the way a damaged display does. Every click or tap picks a new impact point, so the cracks never look the same twice.
All of this is drawn by your browser on the device itself. Your screenshot is not uploaded anywhere, nothing is installed, and no settings are changed, so closing the tab returns everything to normal.
When is the prank a good idea?
- April Fools' Day or a harmless joke on a friend or sibling who left their laptop open.
- Office fun on a colleague's computer, as long as they don't have urgent work open.
- Videos and reactions: set it up on a spare phone or tablet to film someone's reaction.
Reveal the joke quickly. Someone who thinks they broke an expensive device can panic, so keep it short and kind, and never use it on a screen that belongs to a school, a shop or someone you don't know.
Questions
Can this damage my screen?
No. It is just a picture drawn by the browser. Closing the tab removes it completely.
How do I get rid of the cracked screen?
Press Esc on a keyboard, or swipe back or close the tab on a phone. Nothing is installed, so nothing stays behind.
Why doesn't it go full screen on my iPhone?
Safari on iPhone doesn't let websites use full screen. Add the page to your home screen, or hide the browser bar by scrolling, to make it look real.
Does it work on Android?
Yes. In Chrome on Android the prank fills the whole screen, and every tap adds a new crack.