Broken screen prank
that looks scarily real.

What is a broken screen prank?

A broken screen prank makes a perfectly healthy phone, tablet or computer look as if the glass has just shattered. You open a fake broken screen in full screen, hand the device to a friend or leave it on a desk, and let their imagination do the rest. The best version of the joke lasts a few seconds: a sharp intake of breath, a frantic “what did you do?”, and then the reveal that nothing is wrong.

The prank has been around since the first smartphones, usually as a blurry photo of a cracked iPhone. This page takes a different approach. Instead of one picture, every crack is generated for your screen at the moment it breaks, so it looks right on a 6-inch phone, a 14-inch laptop or a 4K monitor — and it can break when they touch it, which is what really sells it.

Why this fake broken screen looks real

Real cracked glass follows a pattern. A hard knock creates a small crushed area full of tiny fragments. Long radial cracks race outward from that point, splitting and kinking as they go, and shorter cracks form rings around the impact like a spider's web. Each fragment sits at a slightly different angle, so some catch the light and some look darker. The crack generator models all of that: a crushed, glowing core, radial cracks that branch and taper, jagged ring cracks, tinted shards and a thin bright edge on each crack where light hits the broken glass.

Resolution matters too. A cracked screen image that has been stretched looks soft and pixelated, which gives the game away instantly. Here the cracks are drawn directly at your display's native pixel density — three device pixels per point on most phones — so every hairline stays razor sharp. Add the sound of glass breaking and a short vibration on Android, and most people do not stop to question it.

How to make the prank more convincing

• Use their own screen. Take a screenshot of the victim's lock screen, home screen or desktop, choose My screenshot, and the cracks appear over the exact screen they expect to see.
• Let them break it. Set the prank to break on the first touch. The screen looks normal until they tap it, and then cracks right under their finger.
• Match the damage to the story. A phone that “slipped off the table” suits Corner drop or Edge hit. A laptop that “got knocked” suits LCD bleed, with its dead lines and ink leak.
• Turn the brightness up and the sound on. The shatter sound does half the work. On iPhone, flip the silent switch to ring.
• Hide the cursor and keep the screen awake. Both are on by default, so there is no arrow floating over the glass and the display will not dim while you wait.

Broken screen prank on iPhone and Android

Phones are where this prank works best, because a cracked phone screen is something almost everyone has seen. On Android, Start the prank switches Chrome, Samsung Internet or Firefox into true full screen, and the phone vibrates when the glass breaks. On iPhone, Safari does not let web pages hide its address bar, so the prank fills the visible page instead. For a flawless edge-to-edge result, tap Share, choose Add to Home Screen, and open the prank from the new icon. The broken phone screen prank page walks through both in detail and starts with a portrait lock screen.

Broken screen prank on a laptop, PC or Chromebook

On a computer, press F or Start the prank to go full screen. Choose When the mouse moves and walk away: the next person to nudge the mouse or press a key sees the screen shatter. LCD bleed adds the coloured lines and black ink leak that real laptop panels show when they break, and the cursor stays hidden so nothing looks out of place. The broken laptop screen prank page includes screenshot shortcuts for Windows, Mac and ChromeOS.

The crack styles explained

• Spider web — one hard hit with long radial cracks and rings. The classic broken screen.
• Corner drop — the most common real-world break: cracks fanning out from a corner after a fall.
• Shattered — several impacts that overlap into a field of broken glass.
• Hairline — long, thin cracks that cross the screen edge to edge. Subtle and very believable.
• Bullet hole — tight, crushed holes with dense rings, for a more dramatic look.
• Edge hit — damage starting from the side of the screen, as if it was knocked against a table.
• LCD bleed — cracked glass plus a black ink leak, purple glow and dead pixel lines.
• Destroyed — every kind of damage at once, with dead bands and flickering lines.

Every style can produce unlimited variations. Press New crack for a fresh pattern, drag the Damage slider for more or fewer cracks, and tap the preview to add impacts wherever you like. Found one you love? Copy link saves that exact crack so you can open it again or send it to someone.

Cracked screen wallpapers, overlays and videos

The same cracks can be saved as files. The download window renders any crack at HD, 2K, 4K or 8K, or at the exact size of an iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel, iPad or MacBook, in PNG, JPG or WebP. Pick a black background for a cracked screen wallpaper, transparent for a cracked screen overlay in your video editor, or green screen for keying. The video tab records a short clip of the glass cracking with sound, ready for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.

Is the broken screen prank safe?

Yes. The prank is a normal web page that draws an image in your browser. It cannot reach your files, change settings or touch the hardware, and it never asks for permissions, pop-ups or downloads. Escape always exits full screen, and a long-press shows an exit button on touch screens, so you are never stuck. When you close the tab, nothing is left behind.

Good prank etiquette

The broken screen prank is funny because the fear lasts a moment. Keep it that way: reveal the joke quickly, pick someone who will laugh, and avoid people who are anxious, unwell or have just paid for a repair. Do not use a fake crack to deceive an employer, a school or a shop, and never use cracked screen images to support an insurance or warranty claim — that is fraud, not a prank. For more set-ups, timing tips and reveal ideas, read the broken screen prank ideas guide.

Free, private, and always one tab away

A Broken Screen is free, needs no account and runs entirely in your browser. Screenshots you use stay on your device, and downloads are generated locally with no watermark. Bookmark it, add it to your home screen, and the next time someone leaves their laptop unlocked, you will be ready.