To, CC, and BCC
It can sometimes be tricky to understand the proper uses of the To, CC, and BCC fields in email. Here's a quick guide to help you understand when to use each one.
To
The To field is intended for the primary recipients of the email. These are the people who are expected to take action or respond to the email. When you add someone to the To field, you are indicating that they are the main audience for your message, and that you expect some kind of action or response.
Addresses in the To field are visible to all recipients of an email.
If you receive an email that is addressed to you in the To field, it is generally expected that you will reply all to the email when a response is needed. This ensures your response is seen by all other recipients so they stay informed. However, be aware of situations where a reply all may not be appropriate, such as when your response is private/corrective, or the email was sent to a large group of people.
CC (Carbon Copy)
The CC field is used to include additional recipients who should be aware of the email, but are not expected to take action or respond. When you add someone to the CC field, you are indicating that they should be informed about the email, but they are not the primary audience.
Addresses in the CC field are visible to all recipients of an email.
If you receive an email that is addressed to you in the CC field, it is generally expected that you do not need to reply to the email.
BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)
The BCC field is used to include recipients who should receive the email without the other recipients knowing. A BCC recipient can reply to an email if they wish. Reply-all will include anyone in the To and CC fields, but not other members of the BCC fields.
Addresses in the BCC field are not visible to any recipients of an email, even by other BCC recipients.
If you receive an email that has you in the BCC field, it is generally expected that you will not reply to the email.
There are several main reasons to use BCC:
Privacy: If you are sending an email to a large group of people who do not know each other, using BCC can help protect their privacy by preventing them from seeing each other's email addresses.
Example: sending a newsletter to all of your customers.
"Disabling" Reply All: If you want to email a group without allowing them to reply all to any other recipients, using BCC ensures reply all only reaches you.
Example: sending an update to the entire company.
Limiting Reply All Recipients: If you want to email a group, but only want reply all to include some people, you can use BCC to limit who receives replies.
Example: sending an email to a group including your boss, but you don't want your boss to be bothered with replies from others.
Confidentiality: If you need to include someone in an email chain without the other recipients knowing, BCC will prevent the To and CC recipients from seeing that person.
Example: Looping your supervisor in on a corrective conversation without the recipient knowing.