Mass Email

Use Bcc for mass emails to protect recipient privacy and limit “Reply All” to visible To/CC recipients, since Bcc recipients are hidden yet can still reply to the sender.

• CC (Carbon Copy): Use CC when you want other people to see email and see who else got it. CC list is visible to everyone who received message.
  • Reply All effect: If someone clicks Reply All, reply goes to original sender and everyone in To and CC. Everyone on that list will see reply.
    
    
• Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy): Use Bcc when you want someone to get copy of email without their name showing to other recipients. Bcc list is hidden from everyone except sender.
  • Reply All effect: If someone clicks Reply All, reply goes to original sender and everyone in To and CC — but not to Bcc people (because they are not visible on email).
  • ⭐Important detail: A Bcc person can reply to sender. If Bcc person hits Reply All, it usually only replies to sender (and anyone they can see in To/CC), but it still does not reveal that they were Bcc’d—unless they say it in message.

• Method 1: Show Bcc from the message header (most common)
  1. Select New mail to start new message.
  2. On To line, look to right side of recipient area and select Bcc.
  3. The Bcc line will appear — enter recipients desired in Bcc.

• Method 2: Show Bcc from the ribbon/menu (some tenants/layouts)
  1. Select New mail.
  2. Select Options.
  3. In Show fields, turn on Bcc (sometimes shown as Show Bcc).

• Optional: Make Bcc always visible by default (web)
  If you want Bcc to appear automatically every time:
  1. Select the Settings (gear) icon.
  2. Select View all Outlook settings.
  3. Go to Mail → Compose and reply.
  4. Under Message format, enable Always show Bcc, then Save.

Mass Email Example: Using Bcc for Supervisors and Field Training Officers (FTOs)

• Scenario
  Department unit needs to send single department-wide message to all Supervisors and all Field Training Officers (FTOs) while not displaying full recipient list to everyone.

• Using Bcc:
  • Protect internal email addresses from being broadly visible
  • Reduce “Reply All” chains to a large audience

• Recommended Email Addressing
  • To: Unit email address (or sender’s address)
  • Bcc: All Supervisors distribution list; All FTOs distribution list
  • CC: *(optional)* Command Staff distribution list (only if you want it visible)

• Reply All Behavior (Important)
  • If recipient clicks Reply All, reply goes to sender (and anyone listed in To or CC).
  • Bcc recipients are not included in Reply All because they are hidden from recipient list.
  • Bcc recipient can still reply to sender (and any visible To/CC recipients), but system does not reveal they were originally Bcc’d unless they say so.

• Best Practice Notes
  • Put unit email address in To field so replies come back to right place.
  • Consider adding a line such as:
    “Please reply to Training Unit only; do not use Reply All.”
  • Use distribution lists (e.g., `supervisors@…`, `ftos@…`) to avoid manually maintaining recipient lists.

• Is it necessary to indicate that there are Bcc recipients?
  • Usually do not need (or want) to announce that recipients were Bcc’d — Bcc is intentionally unobtrusive, and calling it out can read as awkward or signal privacy mechanics that don’t add value. When you do need a brief indicator, keep it neutral and operational.
  • Best practice: Put line at end of email (just above signature), so it doesn’t distract from main message.
    “You’re receiving this message as part of a distribution list.”