What is BCC in Email: An Introduction

Given the prominent role of emails in our daily lives, it’s important to understand how they work. Adding a Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) is often used when sending out emails, but it is much lesser known than the basic ‘To’, ‘Cc’ and ‘Subject’ fields. Understanding what BCC is and how it works is important in order to make the most of the email system.

Essential Components of BCC

To understand what BCC is in email, it’s helpful to look at how it’s different from a typical email. Most emails use the ‘To’ and ‘Subject’ fields, which are fairly self-explanatory. A ‘Cc’ function has become much more widely used and refers to the feature that lets you send a message to multiple recipients. With BCC, though, it doesn’t allow you to enter addressing information like Cc. The main purpose of BCC is to provide a way to keep one or more email addresses private in mass emails. This is especially useful for keeping other people’s email addresses hidden from each other.

The Main Benefits of BCC

There are multiple reasons and uses for BCC, but the main benefits can be broken into two categories. First, it’s useful when carrying out any activity that requires confidentiality, such as in an organizational setting, where something needs to be communicated to a group of people, but not necessarily shared with everyone. When sending out a message to multiple recipients expressing the same sentiment, BCC allows you to keep the contents private since the message will not display the other recipients or their email addresses.

Secondly, BCC is important in avoiding the extra ‘reply all’ function, which can clutter mailboxes of recipients who don’t need to receive the message. If all of the addresses are entered into the ‘To’ field, all the recipients will be visible to each other and have the opportunity to respond to everyone. When entering the addresses into the BCC box, though, it keeps the out-of-the-know recipients from responding.

Using BCC Responsibly

Using BCC responsibly is key. If a message is BCC-ed to multiple people, then the sender might think that any recipients won’t be aware that there are others who have received the same email, leading to a sense of privacy. However, this type of mentality can actually put other recipients in a vulnerable position, so it’s important to remember that BCC is not totally private and that there is a responsibility to use it with care and discretion.

In conclusion, although BCC isn’t as widely used as the other options, it’s important to keep in mind when sending out emails. Its primary purpose is to keep private the email addresses of the other recipients, while avoiding unnecessary ‘reply all’ messages that can be disruptive. Although it should be used responsibly, it can be a helpful and effective tool in both personal and professional emails.