Mar 29, 2026

How to BCC in Gmail

BCC — blind carbon copy — lets you send an email to someone without other recipients knowing. The Bcc field in Gmail works just like the To and Cc fields, except addresses entered there are hidden from everyone else on the email. Each BCC’d recipient sees the To and Cc addresses but cannot see other BCC’d addresses, and To/Cc recipients have no idea the BCC’d people received the message at all.

1. How to BCC on Gmail Desktop (Web)

Open Gmail and click Compose.
In the compose window, look to the right of the To field. You’ll see Cc and Bcc links.
Click Bcc.
A Bcc field appears below the Cc field.
Type the email address(es) you want to blind copy. You can add multiple addresses separated by commas, or type a contact group label name to BCC an entire group.
Fill in the rest of your email (To, subject, body) and click Send.

Once you click Bcc to reveal the field, it stays visible for the rest of that compose session. If you close the compose window and start a new email, you’ll need to click Bcc again to show the field.

2. How to BCC on Gmail Mobile (iOS & Android)

The BCC field is hidden by default on mobile to save screen space. Here’s how to reveal it.

iOS:

Open the Gmail app and tap Compose.
Tap the down arrow (v) to the right of the To field.
The Cc and Bcc fields expand below the To field.
Tap the Bcc field and enter the email address(es).
Compose your email and tap Send.

Android:

Open the Gmail app and tap Compose.
Tap the down arrow (v) to the right of the To field.
The Cc and Bcc fields appear.
Enter addresses in the Bcc field.
Write your email and tap Send.

The process is identical on both platforms. The key step is tapping that down arrow — if you don’t see the Bcc field, you haven’t expanded it yet.

3. How to Always BCC Yourself in Gmail

A common request is automatically BCC’ing yourself on every outgoing email — for record-keeping, CRM logging, or simply having a copy in your inbox. Gmail does not have a native setting for this. Here are the available workarounds:

Option 1 — Google Workspace admin routing rule (Workspace accounts only):

If your organization uses Google Workspace, an admin can create a routing rule that sends a copy of all outbound mail to a specified address.

Go to the Google Admin console (admin.google.com).
Navigate to Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Routing.
Click Configure (or Add another rule).
Set the rule to match Outbound messages.
Under Also deliver to, add your email address (or an archive address).
Save the rule.

This works at the organizational level and requires admin access.

Option 2 — Browser extension:

Extensions like Auto BCC for Gmail add automatic BCC functionality directly in the Gmail web interface. They work by injecting your address into the Bcc field every time you compose, reply, or forward. The downside: they only work in the browser where the extension is installed, and you’re trusting a third party with access to your email compose window.

Option 3 — Google Apps Script:

You can write a Google Apps Script that periodically checks your Sent folder and forwards copies of new messages to a specified address. This isn’t a true BCC (it creates a forwarded copy after the fact), but it achieves the same result for logging purposes.

Option 4 — CRM-specific integration:

Many CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive) provide a dedicated BCC address. Forward or BCC that address on any email, and the CRM automatically logs the conversation against the right contact record. If your goal is CRM logging specifically, this is the cleanest option.

4. When to Use BCC

BCC is the right choice in specific situations and the wrong choice in others. Here’s when it makes sense:

Sending mass emails to people who don’t know each other. If you’re emailing 50 contacts about an event, put your own address in To and everyone else in Bcc. This prevents recipients from seeing (and accidentally replying-all to) every other address on the list. It also keeps your contacts’ email addresses private.

Removing someone from a thread gracefully. If you’re introducing two people over email, you can move yourself (or the introduced party) to Bcc on the follow-up, signaling “I’m stepping out of this conversation.” This is a common professional convention.

Privacy protection. When emailing a list of people who haven’t consented to having their addresses shared — newsletter subscribers, applicants, parents at a school — BCC keeps their information confidential.

Logging to a CRM or archive. BCC your CRM’s logging address (e.g., log@yourcompany.salesforce.com) to automatically record correspondence without the recipient knowing you’re logging it.

Sending to yourself for records. BCC yourself if you want a copy of the email in your inbox (not just your Sent folder) for follow-up tracking.

5. BCC Etiquette and Risks

Don’t use BCC to secretly monitor conversations. BCC’ing your boss on an email to a colleague — without the colleague knowing — is widely considered unprofessional. If the BCC’d person accidentally replies-all, the deception is exposed and trust is broken.

Reply-all risk. If a BCC’d recipient hits Reply All, their reply goes to everyone in the To and Cc fields, revealing that they were on the email. Most email clients warn about this, but not all recipients will notice. Warn BCC’d recipients not to reply-all if the context is sensitive.

BCC is not encryption. BCC hides addresses from the recipient list, but the email itself travels through the same servers. If you need message-level security, use Gmail’s confidential mode or end-to-end encryption.

Don’t BCC on every email. Overuse of BCC signals distrust. Reserve it for the specific situations listed above.

Be transparent when possible. If you’re forwarding a conversation to a third party, it’s often better to explicitly say “I’m looping in [Name]” than to BCC them. Transparency builds trust; secret CC’ing erodes it.

6. Quick Reference

Action	Desktop	Mobile (iOS/Android)
Show BCC field	Click Bcc next to the To field	Tap down arrow (v) next to To
Add BCC recipients	Type addresses in Bcc field	Type addresses in Bcc field
BCC a contact group	Type label name in Bcc field	Type label name in Bcc field
Always BCC yourself	No built-in setting — use admin rule, extension, or script	No built-in setting
Can BCC’d recipients see each other?	No	No
Can To/Cc recipients see BCC’d recipients?	No	No
What happens if BCC’d person replies-all?	Reply goes to To and Cc recipients (reveals BCC’d person)	Same

If you’re spending too much time managing who gets copied on what, Carly can help handle your inbox — drafting replies, organizing conversations, and keeping your email workflow efficient so you can focus on the work itself.

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