Using BCC or Blind Carbon Copy in Outlook for Beginners

A client and friend recently emailed to ask, how do I send an email to large group without disclosing to each of them who else I'm sending to? I'd rather not send 15 seperate emails but for privacy and courtesy would rather not notify each of the others inclusion.

My reply was that she would want to use the BCC feature built into most email programs, below we'll examine how to do so in the most popular small business email application, Microsoft Outlook.

By default, the Bcc box does is not displayed in a new mail message. This design decision was made to reduce screen "clutter" by removing less frequently used options from immediate view.

To display the Bcc box, use one of the following methods, depending on whether you use Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor or the native Outlook e-mail editor.

Method 1: You use Outlook 2002 or Outlook 2003 and you use Word as Your E-mail Editor

To display the Bcc box:

1. Open a new e-mail message.
2. Click the arrow next to Options to display the Options menu.
3. Click Bcc.

Method 2: You use Outlook 2002 or Outlook 2003 and you use Outlook as Your E-mail Editor

To display the Bcc box:

1. Open a new e-mail message.
2. On the View menu, click Bcc Field. If the Bcc Field command is not displayed on the View menu, the Personalized Menus and Toolbars option is enabled. Double-click the View menu to display the full View menu.

Method 3: You use Outlook 2007

To display the Bcc box:

1. Open a new e-mail message, and then click Options.
2. On the Fields area, click Show Bcc.

Note The following example shows how blind carbon copy works.

From: Richard
To: Julie; Chris
Bcc: Phillip; Patrick

In this example, Richard has sent the message to four people: Julie, Chris, Phillip, and Patrick. Message recipients that are listed in the To box are not aware of message recipients that are listed in the Bcc box. In this example, Julie and Chris are unaware that Phillip and Patrick have received the message. Message recipients that are listed in the Bcc box are also not aware of each other. In this example, Phillip is not aware that Patrick has received a copy of the message, but he does know that Chris and Julie have each received a copy of the message.