What is CC and BCC in Gmail? How to Use it

The BCC and CC functions can be useful when sending out an email to multiple recipients. Each of these email functions has a set intent, but they slightly vary in terms of privacy settings.  

This guide will demonstrate what Carbon Copy (CC) and Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) are intended for and how you can use this feature to send out an email from your Gmail account.  

What are CC and BCC in Gmail? 

There might be certain projects that you would like to report directly to your supervisor. Here, the CC function helps keep specific people in the loop and aware of the ongoing information. It is usually targeted at secondary recipients that don’t require direct action or response.

Also, all the recipients receiving the email can view who has been sent and CC’ed onto the Email.

BCC is used to inform people in the same way as a normal CC’ed email but without any of the other participants knowing. It might be useful if your supervisor wants to oversee a conversation discreetly.

But, it is more commonly used for sending messages to large email lists. A company might use the BCC function to email all its customers at once, so it doesn’t share all the email addresses with the other participants.

How To Use CC and BCC in Gmail

Now that we have covered the basics of what CC and BCC are intended for, let us learn how you can use them in your Gmail. It follows a relatively easy process that should not take more than 2 minutes of your time. So, depending upon your device, here are some step-by-step guides you can follow.

On PC 

1. Open up your web browser and log into your Gmail account. 
2. Navigate to the top-left corner and click on the Compose button to create a new email. 
3. After the message box appears on your screen, click on the CC or BCC option located at the top-right of the compose box.
4. If you don’t see the CC or BCC option, please make sure that you have placed the cursor on the Recipients field.
5. Alternatively, you can also use the shortcut Control + Shift + C to open the CC field. Use the Command + Shift + C keys if you are on a Mac device. 
6. To open up the BCC field, use the shortcut Control + Shift + B for Windows and Command + Shift + B if you’re on a mac. 
7. In the CC or BCC field, enter your recipient’s email address. 
8. Now, compose and draft your email accordingly. 
9. Finally, click on the Send button to send away a copy of the email to the recipients.
   

On Mobile 

1. Locate and launch the Gmail app from your iPhone or Android device. 
2. From the homepage, tap on the compose button located in the bottom-right corner of your screen. 
3. Click on the drop-down arrow next to the To field. 
4. Here, you will see the CC and BCC field options. Enter the email addresses you want to add to the field.
5. Compose your email and tap on the Send icon located in the top-right corner of your screen.
   

How to Automatically CC and BCC in Gmail?

Unlike Microsoft Outlook, which uses the rules feature to set up automatic CC and BCC emails, Google has yet to release this feature on Gmail. Nonetheless, you can still send out automated BCC and CC emails by downloading and installing a third-party extension to your browser. 

The Auto BCC for Gmail by CloudHQ and Auto BCC For Gmail are some of the reliable extensions that have proven effective in sending out automated CCand BCC mails. So, we suggest you download either of these Chrome extensions from your Google Web Store. Both of the mentioned add-ons are free of cost.

Related Questions 

Can You Send An Email With Only CC and BCC in Gmail? 

Yes, even if there is no email address in the To field, you can still send an email by only adding the recipient’s email addresses in the CC and BCC field.

How Do You Send an Email to Multiple Recipients in Gmail?

If you want to send an email to multiple recipients, head over to the To section of the compose box. Now, enter the email address. After entering, you can either hit the enter or press the comma key. Alternatively, if you have listed out the email addresses in a document, you can directly copy and paste them into the To field. 

Can A CC’ed Person Reply in the Email? 

Yes, a CC’ed person can also still reply to the email. However, there are two ways that a CC’ed individual can respond. You can either use the Reply button to send a message to the individual who has sent you the email or use the Reply All button to send the message to all the recipients added to the email.