How to Add Bcc Recipients in MacOS Mail

This article shows you how to use the Bcc feature in Mail in macOS Sierra (10.12) and later. The option is

How to Add the Bcc Field in macOS Mail

To send a message to Bcc recipients in macOS Mail:

1. Open a new email window in the Mail application on a Mac. Note that the Bcc field may not show when you first open a new email screen in macOS Mail.

2. Select View > Bcc Address Field from the menu bar to add the new area.

   Alternatively, press Option + command + B on your keyboard.

3. The Bcc field will appear in the header.

4. Type the Bcc recipients' email addresses in the Bcc field. You don't need to enter any address in the To field, although you can. Enter a subject and the text of the email as usual and send the email.

When each of the Bcc recipients receives the email, it displays "Undisclosed Recipients" followed by their address in the To field, along with any names you entered in the To field when you sent the email. The other names entered into the Bcc field don't show, although the presence of Undisclosed Recipients in the To field indicates there are other recipients.

If you forget who you Bcc'd on an email, you can see the recipients of your emails including Bcc recipients, at any time. However, no one who receives your email can access the Bcc information.

Why Should You Use the Bcc Feature?

The widespread use of email has given rise to an unwritten set of protocols that help users send and receive email productively and courteously.

One rule says that including the email addresses of recipients who may not know each other in the To field doesn't respect their privacy. Each person can see everyone else's addresses—a situation one or more might find objectionable or intrusive.

Another potential pitfall of sending the same message to multiple recipients at the same time is the perceived lack of personalization. The recipient of such an email might—correctly or incorrectly—feel that the sender didn't deem the correspondence important enough to create a personal message.

Lastly, you might not want to reveal all the recipients you sent an email to avoid awkward work or personal situations.

What Does Bcc Mean?

Bcc is an abbreviation for "blind carbon copy." It's a holdover from the days of typewriters and hard copy. Back then, a typist might include Bcc: [names] at the bottom of an original correspondence to tell the primary respondent that others received copies of it.

In modern-day email usage, using Bcc protects the privacy of all the recipients. The sender enters all of the email addresses of the group in the Bcc field rather than the To field, and then each recipient can see only their address. The other email addresses to which the email is sent remain hidden.