40 Funny Pranks to Make The Whole Office Laugh

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Make new work friends with these positive practical jokes
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Fun, lighthearted office pranks can be a great way to bond with your coworkers and create a friendly company culture. Whether you’re celebrating April Fool’s Day or messing with your work bestie, these pranks might be just what you need. Just make sure to check with your manager first to make sure it’s okay first. Keep reading for a list of awesome pranks that’ll be talked about for years to come!

1

Signature Swap

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  1. Change your coworker’s email signature to something hilarious.
    If you can log on to their computer, alter their signature to give a colleague an extremely long name, like “Her divine and imperial majesty, heir to the kingdoms of elves and men, Camile Johnston” or a silly job title, like “Head of Vibes” or “Coffee Shortage Scapegoat.”[1]
    • Alternatively, change your email signature to something funny and wait for someone to notice!
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2

Stuff Switcheroo

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  1. Switch the desks of two coworkers and wait for their reactions. If you can’t move their actual desks, switch out their computer, phone, knick-knacks, and other supplies with another coworker’s stuff. Then sit back and wait for both of their reactions!
    • Make sure to help move their stuff back to where it belongs afterward.
3

Eye Didn’t See That One Coming

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  1. Put googly eyes on all your coworkers’ family photos. You might have to come into the office a little bit early for this one, but the reactions will definitely be worth it. Take a bag of stick-on googly eyes and paste them on the eyes of all of your coworkers’ friends and family members.
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4

Cardboard Cubicle

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  1. Replace everything on a coworker’s desk with cardboard replicas. If you have some time on your hands, grab a couple of cardboard boxes, cut them up, and shape them to match items on their desk. Then, switch all the items out with their cardboard clones and laugh along with them when they discover what you’ve done![2]
    • Try to work on this prank outside of the office so no one will think you’re taking time out of your workday.
5

Workday Pandamonium

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  1. Leave your co-worker a sticky note with a number for the local zoo.
    When your coworker steps away from their desk, leave them a sticky note that says they missed a call from “Ms. Lyon” or “Mr. Hawk” with a number for the zoo. Either they’ll realize it’s a prank from the start, or you can laugh as you watch them call a confused zoo employee.[3]
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6

All That Glitters

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  1. Fill an envelope with glitter and leave it on a coworker’s desk. Get a bag of colorful glitter, dump it inside an envelope addressed to your coworker, seal it, and leave it on their desk. When they open it, glitter will flutter everywhere, creating a beautiful chaotic mess.[4]
    • After they open it, stay back and help them vacuum up the spilled glitter.
7

Cue the Confetti

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  1. Tape a newspaper and confetti on top of someone’s office door. Before one of your coworkers comes in for work, tape a sheet of newspaper from the top of the door to the wall above the doorframe. Then, pile paper confetti on top of the newspaper. When the person opens their office door (and rips the newspaper) they’ll be showered with confetti![5]
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8

Sticky Situation

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  1. Place sticky notes with random notes on their desk. This prank is especially great if you have a coworker who writes everything on sticky notes. When they aren’t looking, stick a couple of notes to their desk with odd messages and reminders like “4/1 Meeting at the park” or “Pandas?” Then watch for their confusion when they notice them!
    • If you put a meeting reminder or anything work-related on their desk, make sure to come clean so they don’t worry that they missed something important.
9

Stretched Thin

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  1. String colorful yarn across a coworker’s cubicle like a field of lasers. Gather a bolt or two of colorful yarn (use red if you’re going for the laser look) and tape one end to a wall of their cubicle or office. Then, string the rest from wall to wall, creating a seemingly inescapable maze that’ll confuse your coworker when they come in to work.
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10

What’s Poppin’?

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  1. Fill the conference room with balloons or beach balls.
    Blow up some plastic beach balls or balloons and toss them into the conference room, then shut the door. When someone goes in for a meeting, they’ll be surprised to find the whole room is full!
    • Alternatively, fill someone’s cubicle with balloons and use plastic wrap to seal them all in.
11

Take a Seat

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  1. Duct-tape an air freshener under someone’s desk chair. Place a spray air freshener can directly underneath their swivel chair and use tape to secure it to the base.[6] When your coworker goes to sit down, it’ll surround them with a cloud of fragrance!
    • Typically, this prank is done with an air horn, but an air freshener might be less likely to make anyone angry or upset.
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12

Happy Unbirthday!

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  1. Hold a fake video-call birthday party for one of your coworkers. If you work remotely, tell your team you’re planning a birthday surprise for a person in the office and ask everyone to wear party hats and set up birthday virtual backgrounds. When that person logs in, sing “Happy Birthday” and keep a straight face when they look confused.
    • Try to do this prank on someone you’re already close to or who you know will laugh along. If you’re not sure if they’d be comfortable with it, try a different prank.
13

Jell-O There!

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  1. Encase a coworker’s stapler in their favorite flavor of Jell-O. If your coworker is a fan of the TV show The Office, take them back to the pilot episode by making a bowl of Jell-O and putting their stapler inside before it hardens.[7] Put the Jell-O mold on their desk and laugh with them when they realize the reference.
    • At the end of the pilot, one of the characters puts the boss’s mug inside the Jell-O. If your coworker doesn’t have a stapler, try using their favorite coffee mug instead!
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14

Forge Ahead

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  1. Leave a picture of a $10 bill on the ground for someone to find. Print a picture of a $10 bill or get a piece of play money, then write “Just kidding!” on the back. Place the picture somewhere everyone walks past often, like by the break room or in the stairwell, and watch your coworkers look disappointed when they pick up the fake money![8]
15

Taking Control

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  1. Plug a wireless mouse into your coworker’s computer.
    This might work best if your coworker uses a traditional wired mouse. Jiggle the mouse around every once in a while to make them think their computer is acting up. Then after a while, open apps or navigate to other web pages while they watch in shock![9]
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16

Inch by Inch

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  1. Move your coworker’s desk by 1 cm until they notice. This prank takes dedication, but the payoff will be worth it. Every day, move your coworker’s desk to the left or right. Eventually, they’ll wonder why their entire workspace is completely off!
    • If you work in cubicles, try to move your entire bank or move all the things on their desk over slightly until they realize that someone has been messing with their stuff.
17

Driving Me Crazy

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  1. Tape a “Please honk and wave!” sign on the back of a coworker’s car. At the end of work, sneak out and tape this sign to the back of your favorite coworker’s vehicle. When they start driving home, they’ll wonder why everyone is pulling up to wave at them![10]
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18

Paper Jam

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  1. Print 30 pages of a scanned paperclip and put them in the copier. Place a paperclip in the copy machine, print out 30 pages with the scan, and place them in the printer tray. When a coworker goes to print something out, there’ll be a mysterious paperclip in the way of their copy![11]
    • Bonus points if they look absolutely everywhere for the paperclip (except for the paper tray).
19

Humor-cide

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  1. Make a coworker’s cubicle a pretend crime scene. Have another one of your coworkers lay on the floor in the middle of their cubicle and outline them with masking tape. Then, attach crime scene tape outside the front of their cubicle. When the cubicle’s owner comes in, they can try to figure out whodunit.
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20

Card-bored

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  1. Place a cardboard cutout of yourself at your desk.
    Print out large-scale pictures of yourself and clue them on cardboard to create a standee, or ask a company to create a custom cutout. You can either put it at your desk at the end of the day to make it look like you’re staying late or place it right before you take your well-deserved PTO.
21

Topsy Turvy

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  1. Flip a coworker’s computer screen upside-down. Before your coworker comes in for work (or after they step away for lunch), flip their computer’s entire screen to make them wonder what possibly could have gone wrong. Not only is this prank startling, it can also be easily fixed with a couple of key swipes.[12]
    • Windows: Press Ctrl + Alt + the up arrow or right-click their desktop, go to “Display Settings,” and next to “Display orientation,” choose “Landscape (flipped)” from the drop-down menu.
    • Mac: Go to the Apple Menu > “System Settings,” then click “Displays” in the sidebar. Click the pop-up menu next to “Rotation,” choose 180 degrees, and hit “Confirm.”
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22

Office Supply Surprise

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  1. Fill a cupboard in the break room with ping pong balls. Choose a cupboard that people access a lot, like the snack cabinet. Then, fill it with a bulk bag of ping pong balls and wait for your coworkers’ reaction when they open it hoping to grab a bag of chips.
    • Alternatively, replace all the files in a filing cabinet with ping pong balls. Just make sure to keep all the files in order so the filing system won’t get disorganized!
23

Barely Holding It Together

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  1. Replace all the paper clips with mini plastic babies. Buy a bag of small plastic babies, go around the whole office, and switch out everyone’s cup of paper clips with a cup of babies. This adds an inconvenient but fun prank to spice up your coworkers’ workday.
    • Make sure to keep everyone’s paper clips so you can switch them back out at the end of the day.
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24

Everyone’s Purplexed

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  1. Switch out everyone’s pens and pencils with colored pencils and crayons. Bring packages of crayons and colored pencils to work, then switch out every corporate or government-approved writing utensil on every desk in the office. Nothing’s getting signed in pen today![13]
25

Thanks a Latte

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  1. Freeze a mug of coffee and switch it out for someone’s fresh cup of joe.
    Buy a mug that looks exactly the same as your favorite coworker’s, fill it with coffee, and put it in the office freezer overnight. When your coworker walks away, switch out their daily cup with the freezer decoy. When they come back, they’ll wonder how it got so cold so fast![14]
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26

Chocolate Betrayal

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  1. Leave a bowl of M&Ms and Skittles in the break room. When your coworkers help themselves to a handful of delicious M&Ms, their tastebuds will be shocked by an appalling mixture of fruit and chocolate![15]
    • If no one in your office is allergic to peanut butter, throw some Reece’s Pieces in there, too.
27

Don’t Ever Change

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  1. Glue a coin to the floor and watch everyone struggle to pick it up. Take a quarter (or any kind of real coin) and duct tape or glue it to the floor in an area where all of your coworkers pass by often, like by the break room or next to the printer. Throughout the day, everyone will desperately to pick it up!
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28

Health Kick

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  1. Fill a donut box with carrots and celery sticks. Just imagine how excited your coworkers will be when they find a donut box in the break room, only to open it and discover that it’s filled with healthy alternatives![16]
29

Wrong Number

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  1. Ask everyone else to call your coworker and ask to speak with Jolene. Get everyone at the office to call one of your coworkers about every 30 minutes asking to talk to Jolene. At the end of the day, call your coworker (using a number they don’t have in their contacts) and say “Hi, this is Jolene. Do you have any calls for me?”[17]
    • If your coworker has everyone’s number, post online asking your friends or family members to call your coworker throughout the day as a fun, lighthearted prank.
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30

Just Keep Scrolling

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  1. Put a piece of tape on a coworker’s mouse sensor.
    Cover the red sensor at the bottom of a coworker’s computer mouse with a small piece of tape. When they go to work, they’ll fiddle with their mouse trying to find out why it’s not working, only to flip it over and find the tape![18]
    • Optionally, write a little note on the tape that says “April fools!” or “You just got pranked!”
31

Keep It Clean

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  1. Fill a hand sanitizer bottle with clear school glue. Dump a bottle of hand sanitizer into another container, rinse the empty bottle, and fill it with clear school glue. Then offer it to your coworkers throughout the day and watch their faces as they wonder why the sanitizer is so sticky!
    • Alternatively, empty a hand sanitizer bottle and fill the cap or pump with super glue. When a coworker goes to grab some, they’ll squeeze and squeeze without anything coming out.[19]
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32

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  1. Change a coworker’s mouse sensitivity to super slow. While someone’s away from their desk, go into their computer settings and change their mouse speed to the slowest setting. When they come back, it will take them ages to fix it!
    • Windows: Go to Settings > “Bluetooth & Devices” > “Mouse” and move the “Mouse pointer speed” to the slowest it’ll go.[20]
    • Mac: Go to the Apple menu > “System Settings,” then click “Mouse.” Drag the “Tracking speed” slider all the way to the left.[21]
33

There’s No Esc

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  1. Rearrange the keys on someone’s keyboard to spell out a message. Use a flathead screwdriver or a pair of tweezers to pop off the keys on your coworker’s keyboard and rearrange them to create a custom message just for them. You could write an inside joke or something simple like “Pranked!”[22]
    • Make sure to help them put the keys back in order after the two of you laugh.
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34

Let’s Unpack That

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  1. Leave empty boxes addressed to your coworkers in the mail room. Assemble several empty boxes and tape them shut, then address them to your favorite coworkers and leave them in the mail room or put them on their desks. Then watch them eagerly open the boxes, just to find nothing inside.
    • You can also leave a note inside that says something like “April fools!” or “Got you!”
35

Not Now!

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  1. Download a realistic update animation on a coworker’s computer.
    Download a realistic-looking update animation from a site like www.fakeupdate.net and set the browser to full-screen mode to trick your coworkers into thinking their computer is taking a frustratingly long time to update.[23]
    • Alternatively, download the animation onto your computer to make everyone wonder why your computer is endlessly updating.
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36

New Upgrade

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  1. Put a sign on the door or printer that says it’s “voice-activated.” You can even put the manufacturer’s logo on the top to make the sign look legit. Then, sit back and listen to your coworkers test this new smart technology throughout the day.[24]
    • Alternatively, put a sign on a soap or paper towel dispenser in the bathroom that says it’s “motion activated,” then walk in occasionally to catch your coworkers waving helplessly at them.
37

Too Cute

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  1. Put pictures of puppies or kittens all over someone’s desk or cubicle. Print out hundreds of pictures of your coworker’s favorite animal, then tape them everywhere—from the surface of their desk to the keys on their keyboard. Not only is it horrifyingly tacky, but everything can be taken down easily after your coworker gets a good laugh.[25]
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38

Penny for Your Thoughts?

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  1. Hide 100 pennies all over your coworker’s desk or office. Put a note on your coworker’s desk that says you hid $1 worth of pennies all over their cubicle, in the breakroom, and throughout the office. Your coworker will stumble upon them all day as they open file cabinets or grab another cup of coffee.
    • For extra chaos, only hide 97 pennies so they’ll forever search for the last 3.
39

Constant Spam

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  1. Sign your coworker up for a funny newsletter subscription. Sign them up for an email subscription to Cat Faeries, which sends them cat facts and other kitty-related info, or a bunch of political campaigns.[26]
    • For maximum rage, use MailBait to sign them up for a hundred email subscriptions at once. It’s not only super annoying, but it’ll take them forever to unsubscribe from all of them.
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40

That’s a Wrap

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  1. Wrap someone’s entire desk with wrapping paper or plastic wrap.
    Cover a coworker’s computer, knick-knacks, pencils, phone, and desk with plastic wrap, wrapping paper, aluminum foil, or sticky notes. Your coworker can easily laugh it off and they’ll only spend a couple of minutes unwrapping what they need.[27]

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Warnings

  • While these pranks are harmless and fun, your coworkers or boss might still find it inappropriate and you may get in trouble. If anyone gets hurt or upset, it’s best to come clean and apologize.
    Thanks
    Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
  • If you think something might be a funny prank, make sure to run it past a manager to make sure it won’t cause anyone discomfort.[29]
    Thanks
    Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • Try to avoid giving someone bad news as a prank—this can be scary or even psychologically damaging.[30]
    Thanks
    Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • Try to avoid pranking the same person over and over again—they might feel singled out or harassed.[31]
    Thanks
    Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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References

  1. ↑ https://bestlifeonline.com/harmless-april-fools-pranks/
  2. ↑ https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/5-fun-office-pranks-that-wont-sabotage-your-job.html
  3. ↑ https://bestlifeonline.com/harmless-april-fools-pranks/
  4. ↑ https://bestlifeonline.com/harmless-april-fools-pranks/
  5. ↑ https://www.lovetoknow.com/parenting/teens/harmless-funny-pranks-do-friends-adults
  6. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  7. ↑ https://screenrant.com/the-office-best-pranks-ranked/
  8. ↑ https://parade.com/984978/kelseypelzer/april-fools-pranks/
  9. ↑ https://mashable.com/article/easy-office-pranks-april-fools
  1. ↑ https://parade.com/984978/kelseypelzer/april-fools-pranks/
  2. ↑ https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/5-fun-office-pranks-that-wont-sabotage-your-job.html
  3. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  4. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  5. ↑ https://mashable.com/article/safe-office-pranks-april-fools
  6. ↑ https://parade.com/984978/kelseypelzer/april-fools-pranks/
  7. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  8. ↑ https://bestlifeonline.com/harmless-april-fools-pranks/
  9. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  10. ↑ https://www.lovetoknow.com/parenting/teens/harmless-funny-pranks-do-friends-adults
  11. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/make-your-mouse-keyboard-and-other-input-devices-easier-to-use-10733da7-fa82-88be-0672-f123d4b3dcfe
  12. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-your-mouse-or-trackpads-response-speed-mchlp1138/mac
  13. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  14. ↑ https://www.thehrdigest.com/just-for-laughs-office-prank-ideas/
  15. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g31101964/office-april-fools-pranks/
  16. ↑ https://mashable.com/article/easy-office-pranks-april-fools
  17. ↑ https://bestlifeonline.com/harmless-april-fools-pranks/
  18. ↑ https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/5-fun-office-pranks-that-wont-sabotage-your-job.html
  19. ↑ https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/5-fun-office-pranks-that-wont-sabotage-your-job.html
  20. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/10/31/when-is-an-office-prank-considered-harassment/?sh=3ba181eaf811
  21. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/10/31/when-is-an-office-prank-considered-harassment/?sh=3ba181eaf811
  22. ↑ https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/5-fun-office-pranks-that-wont-sabotage-your-job.html

About This Article

Cheyenne Main
Co-authored by:
Cheyenne Main
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Cheyenne Main. Cheyenne Main is an Editing Fellow at wikiHow, currently living in Kansas City. She has over four years of editorial experience, with work published in a variety of literary magazines. In 2023, she graduated from Cottey College with a BA in English and History. Now, Cheyenne loves learning new topics and helping to create well-researched, accessible resources for readers. This article has been viewed 9,230 times.
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