Staring at an open template with a blank mind is completely normal. The good news: meme ideas don’t come from inspiration, they come from paying attention. Here are 60 prompts ready to use, sorted by category, plus a method so it never happens again.

How to come up with your own ideas in two minutes

Before borrowing ideas from a list, try this. Ask yourself four questions about your week or your group:

What happened again? Repetition is gold: the friend who’s always late, the topic that always comes up. (Best template: 0 days without….)
What did I expect, and what actually happened? Contrast is the basis of half of all memes. (High cortisol / low cortisol.)
What did we overcomplicate? Plans, decisions, texts. (IQ bell curve.)
What ruined something? A surprise, a temptation, a badly timed message. (Train hitting a school bus.)

If even one of the four has an answer, you’ve got a meme. Your own group’s topics will always be funnier than any generic idea.

20 quick ideas for your friend group

Whoever suggests the plan and then bails
“Be there in 5” (25 minutes later)
Trying to pick a date for dinner
The 4-minute voice note that could have been “yes”
The group photos nobody ever sends
The friend who only shows up to ask for something
The group chat at 3 am vs. at 10 am
Everyone in the group as an emoji
The first hangout vs. the tenth
Leaves you on read but posts stories
“This stays between us”
Choosing a restaurant between eight people
The shared kitty and who manages it
The friend who always has a better plan
Bringing up that trip from years ago, again
The silence after “can anyone help me move?”
Never reads the chat, asks what was already said
Summer plans in April vs. in July
Us in ten years
The meme only the group understands

Ideas about work

The email that could have been “ok”
The meeting that could have been an email
“One quick thing” at 5:55 pm
Monday 8 am vs. Friday 3 pm
Your face when they say “we’re a family”
Coffee number three
Back from vacation, opening your inbox
The printer on the day you need it most
Working from home: suit on top, pajamas below
Payday vs. the 25th of the month

Ideas about school and studying

The night before the exam
The group project where one person works
“This won’t be on the exam” (it was)
Notes on day one vs. the last day
The teacher saying “it’s really easy”
Studying for 10 minutes, resting for an hour
Grades come out and you compare them with everyone’s
Your alarm during exam season
The library: total silence and someone opens a bag of chips
Home for the holidays: “so what are you doing after?”

Ideas about family and home

Your parents discovering stickers
The family group chat at 7 am with “good morning”
Sunday lunch: “is that all you’re eating?”
Mom finding everything you couldn’t see
The tupperware that may or may not return to your parents’
Your roommate and the unwashed dishes
Splitting the electricity bill
Explaining to your grandpa what a meme is
Your room according to your mom vs. according to you
The holidays: day one vs. day seven

Ideas about money, the gym and adult life

Your bank account on the 27th
“This month I’m saving” (day 3)
Your first day at the gym… and the second
The diet vs. the office birthday cake
Sleeping 8 hours vs. sleeping 8 hours in three naps
Grocery shopping while hungry
The subscriptions you never use
The doctor asking “do you drink water?”
Your Sunday plan: productive in theory, couch in practice
New Year’s resolutions in February

Which template to use for each kind of idea

Your idea is…	Recommended template
Something that keeps happening	0 days without…
Something stressful vs. something calming	High cortisol, low cortisol
A truth everyone recognizes	The Scroll of Truth
Something overcomplicated for no reason	IQ bell curve
Something that ruins something else	Train hitting a school bus
A noise (or a silence) that feels deafening	The loudest sounds on Earth

If you’re still not sure how each format works, the guide to types of memes explains them one by one, and how to make a meme takes you from idea to sharing.

How to never run out of ideas

Write it down on the spot. When something makes you laugh, a two-word note on your phone. By evening you’ll have forgotten.
Scroll back through the group chat. The week’s messages are the best source of topics.
Try the same idea in two templates. Sometimes the same joke works much better in another format.
Play with constraints. Oddly, having to make a meme with a template you didn’t choose forces you to be more creative. In MemeCoop, for instance, you get three random templates each day and have to make your meme with one of them.

FAQ

What should I make a meme about if nothing comes to mind?

Something that happened to you this week that also happens to your people. Ask the four questions above: what repeats, what you expected vs. what happened, what got overcomplicated and what ruined something.

What topics are funniest in a friend group?

The ones only the group gets: shared stories, everyone’s quirks and plans that never happen. A generic meme gets a smile; one about the last hangout gets a laugh.

Are there topics better avoided?

Anything that could hurt someone in the group: looks, personal problems, recent breakups. The goal is to laugh together, not at someone.