Use BCC in an Email

A blind carbon copy (Bcc) of any correspondence is sent when you wish to conceal the fact that there are other recipients of the message. You might do this to discretely let somebody else in on a conversation, to send email to a list without sharing everybody's email or involvement with everybody else, or any other situation where you might desire a bit of privacy. We'll show you how to do this.

Steps

Outlook on a PC

  1. Make the Bcc field visible. This is usually hidden by default, but is very easy to activate:
    • In Outlook 2007 and 2010, compose a new message. Then select the Options tab, and press Show Bcc icon on the ribbon.
    • In Outlook 2003, compose a new message. On the email toolbar, press the down arrow on the Options menu button, then select Bcc.
    • In Outlook Express, click on the Create Mail button, then in the new pane, click on View and click on All Headers.
  2. Enter an address. Type the email address of the person you wish to send a Bcc.

Macintosh Mail

  1. Make the Bcc field visible. This is usually hidden by default, but is very easy to activate:
    • In Mac OS X Mail, compose a new message. Click on the View menu, and then select Bcc Address Field. This setting will be retained until you change it.
  2. Enter an address. Type the email address of the person you wish to send a Bcc.

Yahoo Mail

  1. Make the Bcc field visible. This is usually hidden by default, but is very easy to activate:
    • Compose a new message then click the Add BCC link to the right of the CC: field.

Gmail

  1. Make the Bcc field visible. This is usually hidden by default, but is very easy to activate:
    • Compose a new message, then click on the add Bcc link under the To field.
  2. Enter an address. Type the email address of the person you wish to send a Bcc.

Firstclass

  1. Make the Bcc field visible. This is usually hidden by default, but is very easy to activate:
    • While the new message window is open, click the "message" Menu then choose "show BCC" or Ctrl +B.
  2. Enter an address. Type the email address of the person you wish to send a Bcc.

How to Use Bcc

  1. Use Bcc the right way. Bcc is best used to maintain the privacy of your communication. If you used your To field, or CC to list multiple recipients, everybody on the list has their email exposed to everybody else. While this might be good in a small team environment, this can cause problems when people on the list don't know each other.
    • Not only does it expose private email addresses, it opens the door for either a flood of responses—most of which will not be relevant to most of the other people on the list—or even being used by spammers.
    • If, for example, you are emailing a few key people in a workgroup, and keeping others informed about the process, but want to silently let upper management know what you're sending out, you would include all the members of your workgroup in the To: field; include all the people who might be interested but aren't directly affected by this email into the Cc: field; and finally, anybody who you wish to include without letting others know about it into the Bcc field. You can also include yourself in the Bcc: field to get a copy of the email sent to yourself.
    • Place all "blind" recipients into the Bcc: field. Nobody will see the other recipients, which is great way to maintain privacy for everybody when sending to a public list.
  2. Send your message.
  3. Exercise caution. Bcc is useful, in general, but it's not a perfect solution if you're trying to keep emails private. While there are standards set out for how Email clients should handle Bcc addresses, it's not a requirement. An email client may send the Bcc recipients as part of the header information. Search the help for your particular client, and chat with the online community to make sure your chosen client will send truly blind Bcc emails.



Tips

  • When sending a newsletter, it is useful to have your own address in the TO: field. This will allow replies to come directly to your Inbox.
  • Alternatively, if you do not desire your customers to reply to the email you are sending, create an email address where messages go directly to the trash. An example of this would be noreply@your_company.com
  • TO: is used to address an email directly to someone.
  • For Outlook Express an alternate way to address an email in any of the three address boxes (To:, Cc: or Bcc:). Click the tiny "Address Book" icon just left of the address format you want to use, either To:, Cc: and Bcc:. When the address book opens double click each name and it will pop into the box you selected.
  • CC: is used to carbon copy (include) someone else on the email. They are typically not involved in the email message directly, but would benefit from reading its contents.

Warnings

  • Any email addresses included in the TO: field will be visible to all the recipients.
  • Any email addresses included in the CC: field will be visible to all the recipients.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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