A Teachable Moment

I received an e-mail this morning noting how I am always “harping” about using BCc: to shield your contact’s e-mail addresses from strangers.  I was then scolded for not mentioning how to find the BCc: feature.  

How dare I tell anyone to do something without telling them how! All you have to do is search your software support site, favorite search engine or click the Help area within your e-mail program, right?

Each Program is Different

Part of the problem is that most programs do not make the BCc: intuitively findable or visible. I use and highly recommend PostBox which allows you to decide what to display with every e-mail — a BCc: box included.

I choose not to globally display the BCc: because I do not use it. On the rare occasions where I have, I open a new email, click view and check BCc: so the field displays for that particular e-mail.

For all the other programs, the BCc: is not consistently located or easy to find and you have to search for this option.

How do you find it?

• For Outlook, if BCc: isn’t showing, open a new e-mail message, and then click Options. On the Fields area, click Show BCc.
• Using Outlook Express, click View >All Headers.
• In Thunderbird, clicking the To: field and chose Bcc: from the drop down list.
• AOL, put the BCc: addresses in the “Copy To” box, using parentheses and separating each address with a comma.
• Yahoo!, click Cc: (at the To line’s right end). Then click BCc:.
• BCc: on Mac mail: Select View: “BCc Address Field” from the menu to make sure the menu item is checked. Type the BCc: recipient’s email address in the BCc: field

The BCc: feature should be used when e-mailing a bunch of onliners who don’t know each other because you don’t want to publish their e-mail addresses without their permission or expose them to strangers.

If you would like to contribute to “How to Find the BCc:” on software or platforms I’ve not mentioned above, please do let me know. I will be pleased to add your tips and suggestions to this post.

The bottom line is it’s your responsibility to learn to use all the features of your e-mail software program. It is also each user’s responsibility to understand the technology in which they are participating in so that they may engage in an informed and courteous manner. [ Further reading: 10 Articles that are Tagged BCc:]