Undisclosed Recipient: How to Hide Email Recipients

Definition

An undisclosed recipient is a method of sending emails to multiple people while keeping their email addresses hidden from each other. This is achieved by placing all recipients in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field and using 'Undisclosed Recipients' as a placeholder in the To field. This technique protects recipient privacy and prevents accidental Reply All situations.

Common Use Cases

Sending company announcements to all employees without exposing the full staff directory

Distributing newsletters to subscribers while protecting their email addresses from each other

Sharing event invitations with a group where members should not have access to other attendees' contacts

Forwarding information to multiple clients without revealing your client list

Sending job rejection emails to multiple candidates simultaneously while maintaining confidentiality

Coordinating volunteer or committee communications where member privacy matters

Alerting a group about security issues or sensitive matters without exposing the recipient list

Distributing meeting notes or updates to stakeholders who should not know about each other

Why Undisclosed Recipients Matter

Privacy protection is the primary reason for using undisclosed recipients. When you share email addresses in the To or CC fields, every recipient can see all other addresses. This exposes personal information without consent and can lead to unwanted contacts, spam, or data breaches. Using undisclosed recipients eliminates this risk entirely. Professional communication standards often require protecting contact information. Businesses sending newsletters, announcements, or promotional emails to customer lists must safeguard recipient data. Exposing a customer mailing list could violate privacy regulations like GDPR or damage trust. Undisclosed recipients help maintain compliance and professional standards. This method also prevents Reply All disasters. When recipients cannot see other email addresses, they cannot accidentally send responses to the entire group. This reduces inbox clutter and prevents embarrassing situations where private responses reach unintended audiences.

How Undisclosed Recipients Work

When you send an email using the undisclosed recipient method, all actual recipients are placed in the BCC field rather than the To or CC fields. Since the BCC field is hidden from all recipients, no one can see who else received the email. The To field typically contains your own email address or a placeholder like 'Undisclosed Recipients' to satisfy email protocol requirements. Email clients handle this differently. In Gmail, you can leave the To field empty and add recipients only to BCC. In Outlook, you can type 'Undisclosed Recipients' in the To field as a contact placeholder. Some corporate email systems automatically create an 'Undisclosed Recipients' contact for this purpose. The email server processes each BCC recipient individually, delivering a separate copy to each address. Recipients only see their own email address in the received message, with no visibility into the full distribution list. This server-side separation ensures complete privacy between recipients.

Best Practices

Always double-check that recipients are in BCC, not CC, before sending to avoid accidental exposure

Use your own email address in the To field to receive a copy and confirm delivery

Create a contact named 'Undisclosed Recipients' in your address book for quick access

Keep BCC lists under 100 recipients per email to avoid spam filter triggers

Add a note in the email body explaining that recipients received this via BCC if appropriate

Use proper email marketing tools like EmailVerify for large distribution lists instead of manual BCC

Test the email by sending to yourself first to verify the recipient information appears correctly

Consider using dedicated mailing list software for recurring communications to larger groups

Frequently Asked Questions

Can recipients tell they received an undisclosed recipient email?

Recipients can often tell they were BCC'd because the To field will show a different address (like the sender's own email or 'Undisclosed Recipients') rather than their personal address. However, they cannot see who else received the email or how many other recipients there were. The email headers may show limited delivery information, but the full recipient list remains completely hidden.

What is the difference between BCC and undisclosed recipients?

BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) is the technical feature that hides recipients from each other. 'Undisclosed Recipients' is simply a placeholder term used in the To field when sending to a BCC-only list. The two work together: BCC provides the privacy function, while 'Undisclosed Recipients' serves as a human-readable label indicating the email was sent to a hidden group. You can use BCC without the undisclosed recipients label.

Is there a limit to how many undisclosed recipients I can include?

Most email providers limit BCC recipients to prevent spam abuse. Gmail allows approximately 500 recipients per email, while Outlook permits around 500 as well. Corporate email servers may have different limits set by administrators. For larger distributions, use dedicated email marketing platforms that handle delivery properly and comply with anti-spam regulations. Sending to too many BCC recipients can trigger spam filters or temporary account restrictions.

Are undisclosed recipient emails more likely to go to spam?

Emails sent to undisclosed recipients can trigger spam filters if sent to large numbers of addresses, especially from personal email accounts. Spam filters look for patterns like mass BCC usage, generic content, and sending volume spikes. To improve deliverability, keep BCC lists small, personalize content where possible, ensure your email address has good sender reputation, and consider using professional email marketing tools for larger campaigns that need proper authentication and delivery tracking.

Undisclosed recipient

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