Blind carbon copy lets you send an email to multiple people without showing each recipient who else received it
Blind carbon copy, or BCC, is an email field that works like the regular CC (carbon copy) field, except the addresses you put in BCC stay hidden from everyone else on the message. When you send an email with BCC recipients, the people in the To and CC fields cannot see who is in the BCC field — and the BCC recipients cannot see each other either.
The name comes from old office practice: when you made a carbon copy of a letter, you could slip a piece of carbon paper behind a page so a second copy printed without the original sender knowing. Email BCC works the same way — it creates a hidden copy for someone without the main recipient knowing it happened.
Every major email service has a BCC field: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail, and others. The field is usually hidden by default, so you have to click a button or link to reveal it before you can use it.
Key Takeaways
- BCC recipients receive the email but their addresses remain invisible to everyone else, including the main recipient and other BCC recipients.
- You reveal the BCC field by clicking "BCC" or a similar link in your email compose window — it is not visible until you ask for it.
- BCC is useful for protecting privacy when sending to large groups, notifying someone without the main recipient knowing, or keeping mailing lists confidential.
- BCC is not the same as CC; people in the CC field can see each other, while BCC recipients cannot see anyone else on the message.
How to find and use the BCC field in your email
The BCC field is usually hidden when you start composing an email. In Gmail, open a new message and look for the word "BCC" as a small link next to or below the "To" field — click it to reveal the BCC box. In Outlook, the BCC field appears in the ribbon at the top when you click "BCC" or it may already be visible depending on your settings. In Apple Mail, go to the View menu and select "BCC Address Field" to turn it on.
Once the BCC field is visible, type or paste the email addresses you want to BCC, just as you would in the To or CC fields. You can add one address or many. When you send the message, those recipients will get the email, but their addresses will not appear anywhere in the message that the To and CC recipients see.
The BCC field works independently from To and CC. You can send an email to one person in the To field, CC another person, and BCC a third person — each will see only their own role. The person in To sees the CC recipient but not the BCC recipient. The CC recipient sees the To recipient but not the BCC recipient. The BCC recipient sees everyone in To and CC, but not the other BCC recipients.
Why people use BCC: privacy and confidentiality
The most common reason to use BCC is to protect email addresses. If you are sending a message to a large group of people who do not know each other — a neighborhood mailing list, a group of job candidates, attendees at an event — using BCC keeps their addresses private. Each person receives the message but does not see the full list of recipients, and no one can harvest or misuse the addresses.
BCC is also used when you want to notify someone about a conversation without the main recipient knowing. For example, a manager might BCC their supervisor on an email to an employee, or a lawyer might BCC a colleague on correspondence with a client. The BCC recipient stays informed without disrupting the main conversation or alerting the primary recipient that someone else is watching.
Some people use BCC to keep a copy of an email in a separate folder or account without the recipient knowing a copy exists. This is legal in most places when you are the sender, but the laws around BCC vary by location and context — if you are in a workplace or school, your organization may have policies about when BCC is allowed.
The difference between CC, BCC, and To
| Field | What the recipient sees | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| To | Everyone in To, CC, and BCC sees all To recipients | The main recipient or recipients who are directly responsible for the message |
| CC | Everyone in To and CC sees all other CC recipients; BCC recipients do not see CC | People who need to know about the conversation but are not the main recipient |
| BCC | BCC recipients see To and CC, but not each other or other BCC recipients | People who need the message but their presence should stay hidden from others |
A practical example: you are organizing a community event and need to send details to three groups. You put the event coordinator in To (they are responsible). You put the volunteer team leads in CC (they need to know and should see each other). You put your own backup email address in BCC (you want a copy but do not want the coordinator or leads to know you are keeping one). Each group sees what they need to see and nothing more.
When BCC can cause problems
BCC can damage trust if someone discovers you used it without their knowledge. If a recipient finds out you BCC'd their supervisor or a colleague on a message, they may feel betrayed or spied on, even if your reason was legitimate. In workplaces, using BCC on internal emails can create conflict if it becomes known.
BCC also does not hide the fact that an email was sent — if someone checks the email headers (the technical metadata attached to every message), they can sometimes see that BCC recipients exist, though not who they are. Email headers are not visible in the normal message view, but they are there if someone looks for them.
In some contexts, using BCC without the knowledge of the main recipient may be illegal or against policy. Employment law, healthcare privacy rules, and school policies vary by location and situation. If you are in a regulated industry or organization, check your policies before using BCC on sensitive messages.
BCC versus forwarding: when to use each
BCC and forwarding are different tools for different situations. When you BCC someone, they receive the original message at the same time as everyone else, and they see it exactly as it was sent. When you forward a message, you are sending someone a copy of an email you already received, and you can add your own comments before sending it.
Use BCC when you want someone to receive the original message without the main recipient knowing. Use forwarding when you want to share an email with someone after the fact, or when you want to add context or commentary. Forwarding is transparent — the person you forward to can see that you forwarded it and can see your added message. BCC is hidden.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can BCC recipients see each other?
No. Each BCC recipient sees the To and CC fields, but they cannot see the other addresses in the BCC field. If you BCC five people, each of those five people receives the email, but none of them know the other four were also BCC'd.
Does the recipient get notified that they were BCC'd?
No. The recipient receives the email normally and sees no indication that they were BCC'd. They see only the To and CC fields. There is no notification or alert that tells them they arrived via BCC.
Is it legal to BCC someone without their knowledge?
The legality depends on your location and the context. In most places, BCC'ing someone on an email you are sending is legal. However, some workplaces, schools, and organizations have policies against it. If you are in a regulated industry like healthcare or law, check your rules first. Recording or monitoring someone's email without consent is illegal in most places, but BCC'ing yourself on an email you are sending is usually different.
What happens if I BCC someone on a reply?
When you reply to an email and use BCC, the BCC recipients receive only your reply, not the original message thread. They see your message and any previous messages you include in the reply, but they do not automatically get the full conversation history unless you forward the entire thread to them.
Can I use BCC in group emails or mailing lists?
Yes. If you are sending an email to a mailing list or group, using BCC for the recipient addresses is a best practice to protect privacy. Many organizations use BCC when sending newsletters or announcements to large groups for this reason.