You can specify the recipients of an email in three fields. All three recipients will receive the same email; the difference lies in who can see whom and to whom the email is addressed.

The three fields

• Recipient (To): the people to whom the email is addressed and from whom a reply or action is expected.
• Carbon copy (CC): people you wish to keep informed, but to whom the email is not addressed, such as your line manager or a colleague. The email addresses in the CC field are visible to all recipients.
• Blind carbon copy (BCC): the recipients listed here will also receive the email, but no one else can see their addresses, and they are unaware of each other’s existence.

How does BCC work?

The email program delivers the message to BCC recipients as well, but omits the BCC line from the message header. Recipients listed in the ‘To’ and ‘CC’ fields are therefore unaware that anyone else has received the message. BCC recipients can see the ‘To’ and ‘CC’ fields in their own copy of the message.

What happens to the replies?

• The ‘Reply’ button only replies to the sender.
• The ‘Reply All’ function sends the reply to the sender as well as to those listed in the ‘To’ and ‘CC’ fields. BCC recipients do not receive it, as their addresses do not appear in the email.
• If a BCC recipient clicks the ‘Reply All’ button, their reply will be sent to all visible recipients, thereby revealing that they too received the email. This is one of the most common awkward situations surrounding BCC.

Where can you find the fields?

• Roundcube webmail: when composing a new message, click the + button next to the ‘To’ field and select ‘CC’ or ‘BCC’; the field will then appear.
• Outlook: the CC field is visible by default; to add a blind carbon copy, click the ‘Blind Carbon Copy’ button on the ‘Options’ tab when composing a new message.
• Gmail: the ‘Cc’ and ‘Bcc’ links on the right-hand side of the ‘To’ field.

When should you use which one?

• CC: if the recipients know each other and it is important for them to know who else is reading the email (e.g. a project team, or when a colleague is involved in handling the matter).
• BCC: when sending an email to people who do not know each other (for example, to customers or participants at an event), or when you wish to remove a recipient from an email thread (‘I’ve put my colleague in blind copy’).
• BCC to yourself or an archive address: if you wish to keep a copy of a sent email in another mailbox.

Data protection

An email address that can be linked to a natural person is personal data. If you send an email to several customers in such a way that everyone can see the other recipients’ addresses, you are effectively disclosing their data to one another. You should therefore always use BCC when writing to recipients who do not know one another, and check before sending that the addresses have actually been placed in the BCC field.

Not suitable for mass emails

BCC is not a newsletter service: sending to multiple BCC recipients is still considered a mass mailing, which is subject to the mail server’s hourly sending limit, and does not provide recipients with the option to unsubscribe. For regular mailings, we recommend our newsletter service.

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