How to Use Bcc in Gmail

Send Emails to Hidden Recipients

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Updated August 19, 2017

To blind carbon copy (Bcc) someone is to email them in a way where they can't see the other Bcc recipients. In other words, it's used to email hidden contacts. Let's look at a couple examples...

Say you want to email your 10 potential new employees at the same time with the same message but in a way where none of them can see the email addresses of the other recipients. This might be done in an effort to keep the addresses private or so that the email looks more professional.

Another example might be if you're actually wanting to email just one of them but make it look like it's going to the whole company. From the perspective of the one recipient, the email looks like it's going to multiple undisclosed recipients and isn't necessarily targeting the one employee.

Other examples could be given too since Bcc isn't just reserved for professional settings. You can use this feature when messaging anyone, be it strangers, family or friends.

Note: Remember that the "To" and "Cc" fields do show all the recipients to every other recipient, so be aware of that when you choose which field to put the addresses into.

How to Bcc People With Gmail

  1. Click COMPOSE to start a new email.
  2. Click the Bcc link to the far right of the "To" text area. You should now see both the "To" and "Bcc" field. Another way to toggle this field is to enter Ctrl+Shift+B on Windows or Command+Shift+B on a Mac.
  1. Enter the primary recipient in the "To" section. You can even write more than one addresses here just like you can when sending regular mail. Just remember, however, that any addresses here are shown to every recipient.
  2. Or, you can hide the addresses of all recipients by leaving the field blank or entering your own address.
  1. Use the "Bcc" field to enter all the email addresses you want to hide but still get the message. Keep in mind that any address here is shown to any address in the "To" field but not shown to any other address in the "Bcc" field.
  2. Edit your message as you see fit and then click Send.