If you are sending an impersonal email or one with a large mailing list, use the “Bcc.” You want to protect the privacy of recipients who don't know each other, use “Bcc.” If you want to share information with someone discreetly, use “Bcc”, but exercise ethical discretion when doing so.
The BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) Field
Any emails in the BCC field will be invisible to everyone else in the To and CC fields. BCC should only be used when it isn't a personal email and you want to keep the receipts email private. For example: Informing suppliers/clients of change of address or phone number.
When you use bcc, you can let everybody know: “Thanks for the intro, Abby! I'm moving you to bcc to save your inbox.” They'll know you picked up the email thread, but it lets them off the hook for future messages.
Their response will be sent to the original sender, in addition to everyone in the To and Cc fields. Assuming those Bcc'd were hidden for a reason, this can cause major trust and privacy issues for those who did not know the mail was available to additional people.
Figure out who you BCC'd.
As you know, recipients can't tell who you included in the BCC field, or even if you used the BCC field at all. But that doesn't mean you can't. To see who you BCC'd in a previous email, just open the Sent mail folder and open the message.
Bcc sends a copy of your email to anyone in the bcc field but hides their email address from all other recipients. Bcc recipients won't be able to use the reply-all function.
So to move someone to BCC in an email chain is to ensure that they won't be part of the conversation going forward. And to inform them of the move is simply to be transparent, to all involved, about the upcoming silence.
When should you use the “Bcc” field? This “Bcc” field is best used when you want to streamline your email's appearance and keep recipients' from seeing each others' emails. While this sounds a little shady, it's not meant for devious purposes. It's primarily meant to protect the privacy of your recipients.
If you add a recipient's name to the Bcc (blind carbon copy) box in an email message, a copy of the message is sent to that recipient, but that name is not visible to other recipients of the message.
In Outlook, if you are in the BCC field of an email, other receivers cannot see your name when they receive the same email. However, if you apply the Reply All function to reply the message, the reply email will be sent to all recipients and all receivers will see your address.
Addresses that have been placed in the BCC field are not forwarded. If you have placed a large list of recipients in the To or CC field, all of them will receive the reply. By placing recipients in the BCC field, you can help protect them against receiving unnecessary replies from anyone using the Reply All feature.
Huge email overhead. If you receive an intro you should move the person who introduced you to the BCC (blind copy) line in your response. That way they know you responded but any follow up emails where somebody hits “reply to all” will avoid copying them on the follow up — freeing up that person's email box.
The automatic BCC rule can be disabled when certain exceptions are met. To set the exceptions, go to the Exceptions tab in the Rule properties dialog box. If you want to stop sending CC or BCC copies when you send a message from a certain Outlook e-mail account, check Account is.
This is a completely acceptable and above-board reason to use BCC. It prevents you from violating privacy concerns and protects the recipient's privacy. Another good reason to use the BCC function is for record-keeping purposes—in other words to send yourself or another record keeper a copy of the email.
If you need the boss to know what's happening, don't bcc them; forward the relevant email with a note, or write a new email that's personally addressed to them. You can frame the email as an update, which achieves the same goal as bcc'ing — without the risk of alienating your colleagues.
To send email to multiple recipients, you can use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field. You can put all recipients' email addresses in the BCC field, and the recipients will not know each other's email addresses.
The worst use of the blind carbon copy is to passively aggressively ensnare a coworker. This kind of BCC abuse crops up when employees resort to using the BCC function as a way of indirectly tattling on their coworkers, sucking up to their boss, or otherwise engaging in dysfunctional workplace hijinks.
Enter all the recipients' email addresses in the Bcc: field so that they're hidden from each other. Send the email to yourself under the name "Undisclosed Recipients" so that everyone knows the message was sent to multiple people.
What are the drawbacks of using bcc? Using bcc has potential disadvantages and risks, such as using it to hide something from someone, exclude someone from an email thread without informing them, reply to an email without realizing that you are replying to everyone, and using it inconsistently or arbitrarily.
The limit in any one message field (To, CC or BCC) in the Gmail web interface is indeterminate. It is around 90 for the average email address in the form "First Last <[email protected]>", but the limit is based on the amount of text that can be passed to the system so varies. Your 50+ should be fine.
This can be either a single email to 500 recipients or 500 individual emails. It's important to note that new accounts may have lower limits. When using the Bcc feature, make sure to keep track of how many recipients you're adding to avoid exceeding the limit.
Yes, when you use the resend command the message will be resent to everyone you originally addressed the message to, including BCC recipients, even though the BCC field may not be visible unless you remove their address before sending.