CC and BCC

CC and BCC
3 min read
26 October 2022

 

CC and BCC are two fields or boxes available in email systems that allow recipients to be added to a message, either visible or not.

The difference between CC and BCC is that although both boxes are used to add new recipients to the same message, in the case of CC, both the main recipient and the secondary recipients are aware that they have been included in the mail, since all the Copied addresses are visible.

For its part, in the BCC header, only the main recipient is visible, so you will not be able to know if there are other addresses added to the message. Secondary or "hidden" recipients will also not be able to access the address list, only the primary recipient's.

It means cc?

CC is an acronym for “Carbon Copy”, and refers to the days when carbon paper was used to create copies of documents. In this case, it involves "copying" or adding secondary recipients to the email message you want to send, but in a separate box from the one dedicated to the primary recipient.

What does CCO mean?

CCO is an acronym that stands for “Blind Carbon Copy”. It's usually below the CC field in email services. It was designed to add new recipients to the message, but by making the addresses invisible to the primary recipient.

How to use CC in email

CC is used to make all recipients (both primary and secondary) aware that they have been included in the message. However, even if secondary recipient addresses are visible, their response is not required. Therefore, it could be said that its purpose is above all informative.

An example of the use of CC in an email occurs in organizational emails in which you want to inform a superior about the status of a task, and the employees involved are copied.

How to use BCC in email

For its part, the BCC field is used when the objective is that the primary recipient does not know that there are other email addresses added. And this can respond, in most cases, to a purpose linked to the protection of third party data.

An example of using BCC is messages with many recipients. Using this option not only protects their identity (since many times they are people who are not linked to each other) but also avoids the unnecessary creation of email chains with internal responses.

When messages are sent with multiple recipients and these are visible, there is a risk that these email addresses will be used for malicious purposes, such as identity theft, sending spam, viruses, fake news, etc.

The use of CC and BCC can be of a personal or organizational nature, moreover, unlike the "To" field (in which it is necessary to write the name of the recipient), these resources are optional. However, its correct use can help make communication more efficient and avoid digital security inconveniences.

For this reason, it is recommended that the CC field be used only if it is necessary for those involved to be aware of the existence of the rest of the recipients of the message. If this is not the case, the ideal is to use the BCC field.

cc
In case you have found a mistake in the text, please send a message to the author by selecting the mistake and pressing Ctrl-Enter.
Comments (0)

    No comments yet

You must be logged in to comment.

Sign In / Sign Up