189 189 people found this article helpful Updated on December 15, 2020 Keep email addresses private when sending to multiple recipients
What to Know
This article explains how to send an email to undisclosed recipients. Instructions apply broadly to all email services.
How to Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients
Create a new message in your email client.
Type Undisclosed Recipients in the To: field, followed by youremail address in < >. For example, type Undisclosed Recipients.
If this doesn't work, make a brand new contact in the address book, name it "Undisclosed Recipients" and then type your email address in the address text box.
In the Bcc: field, type all the email addresses that the message should be sent to, separated by commas. If these recipients are already contacts, it should be fairly easy to start typing their names or addresses so that the program will autofill those entries.
If your email program doesn't show the Bcc: field by default, open the preferences and look for that option somewhere so that you can enable it.
Compose the rest of the message normally, adding a subject and writing the body of the message, and then send it off when you're done.
If you end up doing this often, feel free to make a new contact called "Undisclosed Recipients" that includes your email address. It'll be easier next time to just send the message to the contact you already have in your address book.
Why Send Emails to Undisclosed Recipients?
Sending an email to undisclosed recipients protects everyone's privacy and makes the email look clean and professional. The alternative is to send an email to multiple recipients while listing all their addresses in the To: or Cc: fields. Not only does this definitely look messy to everyone who looks at who the message was sent to, but it also exposes everyone's email address.
Instructions for Specific Email Programs
Although these general instructions work in most email programs, small variations might exist. If your email client is listed below, check its specific instructions for how to use the Bcc field to send a message to undisclosed recipients.
How to Send Email to Undisclosed Recipients From Gmail
How to Email Undisclosed Recipients in iCloud Mail
Send a Group Email on Your iPhone to Undisclosed Recipients
Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients in Mozilla
How to Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients in Outlook
How to Send Email to Undisclosed Recipients in Outlook
How to Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients in Yahoo Mail
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928 928 people found this article helpful Updated on October 9, 2022 Protect email recipients' privacy when sending Gmail messages
What to Know
- Add all the addresses to the Bcc field. Optionally, add your email address to the To field.
- Each recipient receives the email, but they can't see the names of the other recipients, which protects everyone's privacy.
This article explains how to send a message to undisclosed recipients in Gmail using the Bcc field.
How to Send Email to Undisclosed Gmail Recipients
To send a message in Gmail with all email addresses hidden:
Select Compose in Gmail to start a new message.
In the To field, type Undisclosed recipients followed by your own email address within angle brackets. For example:
Undisclosed recipients
Select Bcc.
If you don't see the Bcc field, click Bcc on the top right of the message you created. You can also use the Gmail keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+B (Windows) or Command+Shift+B (Mac) to display the Bcc field.
Type the email addresses of all recipients in the Bcc field.
Type your message and provide an email subject, then select Send.
How to Make an Email Group in Gmail
If you frequently send messages to the same group of recipients, consider creating an email group in Gmail:
Open Google Contacts and check the box beside each contact you want to include in the group.
Select the label above the list, then select Create Label in the sidebar.
Enter a name for the new group and select Save.
To add more contacts to a group, select the contact(s), then select the Label icon and choose the group.
A check mark will appear next to the group name. Select Apply to add the contact(s) to the group.
When composing an email, type the name of the new group in the Bcc field. Gmail will populate the field with the complete name, and no one in the group will be able to see the addresses of any other recipients.
If you want all recipients to know who else is receiving the message, add a note at the beginning that lists all recipients minus their email addresses.
No Mass Mailings
You can't use these methods for large mailings. According to Google, free Gmail is meant for personal use, not for bulk mailing. If you attempt to add a large group of recipients in the Bcc field, the entire mailing may fail.
What About Reply All?
Email addresses in the Bcc field are copies of the email only. If a recipient chooses to reply, they can reply only to addresses listed in the To and Cc fields. For this reason, Bcc is a great way to stop a reply-all chain before it starts.
FAQ
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How do I unsend an email in Gmail?
First, set up the feature to unsend a message in Gmail: Go to Settings > See All Settings > General. In the Undo section, choose the time allotment Gmail should pause before sending a message (e.g., 30 seconds). To unsend, select the message and choose Undo.
How do I block an email address in Gmail?
To block a sender in Gmail, open a message from the sender and select More (three dots) next to Reply. Select Block Sender > Block. The sender won't know that they've been blocked.
How do I schedule an email in Gmail?
To schedule an email in Gmail, compose your message and select the arrow next to Send > select Schedule Send. In the pop-up window, choose from the sending time options or select Pick Date & Time to choose an exact date and time > select Schedule Send.
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