Fake Shutdown Screen
The fake shutdown screen prank plays a "Shutting down…" spinner like the one most computers show, then fades to solid black and stays there. From across the room the computer looks off. It is not. It's a browser tab holding on a black screen.
Press F11 for maximum realism. Tap or press Esc to exit.
For the best results, add this to the device's home screen. It then opens with no address bar, no tabs and no URL, so there is nothing left to give it away.
The clever part is what happens next: they nudge the mouse, nothing changes, and now they wonder whether it will turn back on at all. Want it to look broken rather than off? Boot Device Not Found is the one that really lands. Want it to look busy instead? Try endless loading.
How to use the fake shutdown screen prank
- Open this page on the laptop or desktop and, on Windows, press F11 first so the browser is already edge to edge.
- Press Launch Full-Screen Prank: a "Shutting down" spinner turns for about two seconds, then the screen fades to black and stays that way.
- Step away without clicking, since a single click on the black screen brings the page straight back.
- To reveal it, click anywhere or press Esc, and every window that was open is still there.
Setting up the fake shutdown screen on a Windows PC, Mac or Chromebook
Use Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox and press Launch Full-Screen Prank. The page asks for full screen by itself. On Windows, pressing F11 before launching makes sure no tab strip is left at the top when the screen goes dark. On a Mac, Ctrl + Cmd + F does the same job. A Chromebook runs it in Chrome.
While the black screen is up, the page asks the display to stay awake on browsers that support it, so the computer's own sleep timer does not cut in and spoil the picture.
What the fake shutdown screen does once it goes black
The page shows a dark screen with a spinning ring and the words "Shutting down", then fades to plain black in under a second and holds there. Moving the mouse changes nothing, and neither does typing, except Esc. A click anywhere ends it.
It cannot turn anything off. Fans keep running, notifications can still sound, and the power light stays on, so it fools people from across the room better than up close. A laptop with an OLED screen goes truly dark. A regular LCD still glows faintly on black, which shows in a dim room, so a brightly lit office hides it better.
Reveal ideas and when to skip the fake shutdown prank
Reveal it while the person is still puzzled, before they reach for the power button. Holding that button down shuts the real machine off, and anything unsaved goes with it. A quick click on the screen and a "look, it's all still here" is the whole joke.
Skip it on a computer someone is using for work, a deadline or a call, and on shared office machines where IT may get pulled in. It also suits a day of harmless gags; see more ideas on the April Fools' pranks page.
Frequently asked questions
Did the computer actually shut down?
No. The browser tab plays a shutdown animation and then holds on black, while the machine stays fully awake the whole time. Move the mouse and press Esc and everything is exactly where it was.
How do you fake a computer shutdown?
Open this page and press F11 for fullscreen. It plays the shutdown sequence on its own and then holds on a black screen indefinitely, so you can start it and leave.
Why is a black screen more effective than an error?
Because it removes all information. An error tells you what to search for; a black screen makes you doubt the hardware, and people jump to "it's dead" much faster than they jump to "someone opened a website".
What happens if they press the power button?
The real machine will respond normally. It may sleep or shut down, since the page cannot stop that. It's worth knowing before you set this up: if they hold the button down, you get an actual shutdown rather than a prank.
Does the screen stay black permanently?
It holds until someone clicks or presses Esc. The page asks the screen to stay awake on browsers that support it; on others, the computer's own display sleep may kick in after a while, which only makes it more convincing.
Can I use it as a plain black screen instead?
For that, use the dedicated Black Screen tool: no shutdown animation, just black, which is what you want for OLED power saving, backlight-bleed checks or a clean second monitor.
Does it work on a phone?
It does, but it's far less convincing. Phone shutdown screens look different, and a black phone screen just reads as locked. The fake low battery screen is the mobile equivalent worth using.
Can I get in trouble for using it?
The page is harmless and legal, but there's a real cost if someone believes a machine has died. They may force-restart it mid-task and lose work, or take a perfectly fine laptop to IT. Own up quickly.