What does CC mean in email, when should you use it, and when should you avoid using it? As the name suggests, "Bcc" keeps the recipients' emails hidden. Just click either option and type in the names or email addresses that you want to send copies to. If you do want to use it, include any addresses who are indirectly involved in this field. And, as training professional Dannielle Walz warns, misusing the CC option can lead to communication issues. Youd put the customers email address in the To field and your bosss email address in the CC field, so your boss would receive a copy of the email. They are also not included in the conversation should it be continued. Go to Options, and in the Show fields section, select Bcc. This wont necessarily guarantee delivery to all recipients, but it does increase your chances. Add a recipient in the "To" field, and then click "Cc" to add a contact to the Cc list. Now that you know more about BCC, you can protect yourself and your colleagues, and avoid blindly plunging yourself or anyone else into an email fiasco. The CC field is by no means required in a message. You can add up to 100 CC recipients in Gmail. It can come in other forms as well. Can CCD people see attachments? Help Center. Customize all link previews to get up to 60% more clicks. In order to increase clicks in your emails we recommend to complement your email campaigns with push notifications. Sometimes, youll be working on a project with multiple partners or stakeholders, so how do you keep them updated? "Cc" stands for "carbon copy," and is included in nearly every email. This kind of abrupt disclosure has resulted in countless tense office scenarios. - Gmail Community. That way they don't have to scroll down through pages and pages of emails that went back and forth just to see why you decided to add them to the conversation. Sell products and design your own website. One thing to remember is that every email has to have a recipient. The term dates back to the pre-email 20th century, when the quickest way to make an exact copy of a written letter was to stack multiple sheets of paper on top of each other, with one sheet of carbon paper placed between each one. When you use Reply, your reply goes to only the original sender of the email. Note that there's also an option for "BCC," or "blind carbon copy." It should soon become clear how it all works! BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy aka Blind Courtesy Copy, which basically means that a person is copied on the email, but their email address is hidden from other recipients. In this case, you would want to forward or summarize previous correspondences. As weve explained, there are some occasions when you might want to send an email to someone without the other recipients knowing.. Bcc appears in the Send area of your email, below Cc. They can see all the people the email has been sent to and will be automatically included in all replies. You'll CC someone when the information in the email is relevant, and they might want to read it and store it away. For example, if you CC [email protected] and [email protected] on an email, Bob and Jake will both know that the other received the email, as well. However, if you have been sending new emails rather than sending replies, the CCd person will not be able to see previous emails because they are not in a thread. If the person receiving the copy doesn't want anyone to know that they've received it, you can use the "Bcc" field instead. Or can they only view messages from the point when they were added? If that message is a reply or forward that includes previous messages they will receive the entire contents of the message, including the older messages. The CC field stands for carbon copy; the BCC field stands for blind carbon copy. Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. Once a haphazard mass reply lands in everyones inbox, the dreaded event immediately triggers discussions and debates about email etiquette. If they aren't already in the channel, you won't see a prompt to add them. Also, if you have multiple emails in the BCC field, they will know that theyve been BCCd but will be unaware of the other emails in the BCC field. It is often used to keep colleagues and clients in the loop, especially when you want to share information but you don't necessarily need a reply. Theyll also be able to see the email address of every other recipients in the To and CC fields. Of course, you can continue to BCC Jake on future emails or forward him a copy of the reply. You should also avoid including someone in CC who hasn't expressed a need to be included-or without stating in the email why you've looped them in. Theyre involved in the email, but its not directed at them. BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy. Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. In practice, a lot of this can come down to email etiquette and different people will use these fields differentlyparticularly the To and CC fields. It is very similar to CC in this sense. How do we manage this option? Your contact list is hidden from recipients automatically. The CC field is for sending a copy to other interested parties for their information. Here are 4 examples of how to use CC in an email conversation. You can see some reasons why you may want to CC someone in an email below. EmailAnalytics You want to send a copy of an email to a large number of people. This isnt a concrete rule, and usage of To and CC varies. The carbon paper helped the ink or type move from the top sheet to the bottom, and presto, you had two copies of the same paperwork. For example, if you have [email protected] and [email protected] in the BCC list, neither Bob nor Jake will know that the other received the email. Specifically, if the email is part of a mass message, all the recipients probably dont need to receive a copy of your question to the sender. Please dont ever do this. The Bcc box will now appear by default for every new message. CCed emails can, in many cases, be filed away and stored. However, you can also send . You can add up to 100 CC recipients in Gmail. Yes, you can overuse the CC function when sending an email. Savvy. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read billions of times. If a BCC recipient hits reply all, the original sender will receive the reply and other normal recipients will get a CC. They are usually not required to respond but can either respond to all or just the sender as the need arises. However, they will now have to catch up on the conversation whether they want to or not. If youre happy they see old emails, keep them CCing them in. At least that's how it worked with my one test. If not, then they won't. What Happens when you Forward an Email? Step 3: Finally, on the pop-up menu at the. Imagine waking up in the morning, getting ready for work, and arriving at the office, only to find that theres no seat for you. For example, in Gmail, all you need to do is enter all of the names into the To field. Not only could it lead to uncomfortable situations, but it could result in a serious violation of privacy for people who don't want their email addresses revealed. Google Goes Incognito With Vanishing Gmail. And, there are only specific instances when it should be used. Often, managers will ask to be included via BCC in specific communications between their employees. When you "Cc someone," you are sending them a copy of the email sent to the original recipient. For example, A sends an email to C and D. C replies to the email, and D replies as well, but CCs E and F. Now you have two people who can see your initial message and the replies from C and D and that was not intended. including a CC on a reply). Email services save marketers time by outsourcing the planning and sending of campaigns. How to send a mass email and hide recipients. Do's and don'ts. To do so, you can send them all a message with just the BCC section filled in with their addresses. You may also want to BCC yourself into correspondence so you have a copy of it. Flowrite turns your instructions into ready-to-send emails and messages across your browser. Generally, for bulk emails, the number of addresses is limited by ESPs (email service providers), to prevent suspicious activity. Your submission has been received! Take the first step towards a better website. Do you have any questions about the service? They may or may not see the message, and they may or may not respond. You should use "CC'd" rather than "CC'ed" as the past tense form. Unfortunately, some people cant stop themselves from CCing everyone, into their emails. Your typo could result in someone else's valid email address. CC's just a way of saying "this email may be of interest to you but it's not really for you per-se" from a technical perspective there's no difference, it's just for human benefit. Something went wrong while submitting the form. Community. For example, say that you need to send directions to someone in another company. DO seek consent wherever possible it's better to be safe than sorry, and asking for direct, affirmative permission to contact someone via email is the most secure . With a background in computer science and a knack for clear and concise communication, I have made a name for myself in the tech industry as a go-to source for understandable and engaging explanations of the latest developments. Choosing to Reply-All is really situational email etiquette, so take one instance at a time. You can reply to multiple recipients by clicking the Reply all button. Copy machines didn't exist in those days either. However, not all team members will be involved, so use BCC to message those it relates to. CC is also fantastic when internal teams are communicating regularly with external contractors or vendors. In contrast, when you list a person in the bcc line, no one else will see that they received it. When you CC someone you're sending them one message. Using CC in current email language means you're sending an email not only to the primary recipient in the "To" field, but also to one or more secondary recipients. Can CC see replies? How to send a mass email and hide recipients in Outlook with the Undisclosed Recipients feature: Lets find out how to set the Undisclosed recipients contact in Gmail. If that message is a reply or forward that includes previous messages they will receive the entire contents of the message, including the older messages. You can set up some test emails if youve got multiple email accounts and see how it works. So, when do you CC and when do you BCC? with customers), you should consider using bulk email services. And if you put multiple people into the "Bcc" field, none of them will know who else received the blind copy either. However, they are less sure about the two other options: CC: (carbon copy) and BCC: (blind carbon copy). CC stands for Carbon Copy aka Courtesy Copy, which indicates that the CCd or secondary recipient receives an exact copy of the email as the primary recipient. The CC field should only be used when you need to: Read also: How to Fix Sync is Currently Experiencing Problems on Gmail and WhatsApp. Set the name 'Undisclosed recipient' for the address you want to use for bulk emails as sender. just a reminder: Apps like Hit Em Up will let you perform this task with ease, and it's free. To do that, open your email message, and on the Options tab in the Show Fields group, click Bcc. If your participation is relevant to the conversation, then a "reply all" might be in order. CC and BCC are both ways of sending copies of an email to additional people. If youre dealing with problems within your work team, for example, you probably shouldnt BCC your manager, team leader, or colleagues without notifying them first and getting their permission. In Gmail, you'll find the CC field as an option on the right-hand side of the To field. Or else BCC some or all. Using BCC is often reserved for sharing with your boss a tricky customer communication, or sending an email to lots of people where you don't want each one to see the other's email address. Using cc means that you send the email to another person or other people in addition to the primary recipient or recipients. Youll have to keep them in the loop if youre BCCing them. How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. Featured image via Eny Setiyowati / shutterstock.com. Bcc recipients can see To and CC recipients. What do I put for CC on email? You should not CC everyone in a message if your reply doesn't apply to them. When writing an email, you can "Cc" someone to send them a copy of an email you've sent to someone else. Then why do so many of us get it wrong? Instead of using basic email for business promotion, companies send email campaigns via special services. Whoops. Click it to open a new line for CC recipients. It's totally private. Try them out if youre still unsure exactly how CC and BCC work. Recipients cannot find out if someone else was BCC'd in an email. Im trying to find out WHEN to click on Cc or does it matter? Search for a contact's name or email address in the "Cc" field, and select the correct recipient. CC: is carbon copy. The thing is, all these functions are useful when used correctly. When sending an email, cc allows you to send a copy of your email to someone who is not the recipient listed in the "to" field. Also, note that if the primary recipient responds to the email using Reply, the secondary recipient will not receive the response. Unlike the CC field, when you BCC someone and the primary or secondary recipient responds to the email, the tertiary recipient will not receive the response. However, the BCC list is secretno one can see this list except the sender. Refresh if you want to submit another email. 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