Hide That Distribution List!

One way spammers get email addresses is through exposed distribution lists. Those are the emails you get with a long list of email addresses, including yours, in either the "To:" or "CC:" fields of the email message. It is very easy to just copy and paste all of those email addresses into a marketing list you never signed up for.

So how do you send emails to those on your distribution list without exposing them to spammers or just people looking to add to their own marketing lists? Its easy, just put your distribution list on the Bcc field. By the way, you can click on any of the images below to get a full size view of the image.

But wait, some of you are saying. "What Bcc field? I only have "To:" and "CC:" fields!" Unfortunately for those using Outlook, the most widely used email client, the default is often to not show the Bcc field. For those of you who do see the Bcc field in Outlook, let's take a look at how to make it visible and ready to use.

Outlook 2000 and 2003 has two options you may be using. The first is to use Word as your email editor, which is the default. If you are using Word as your email editor and do not see the Bcc field, then open a new message. Look for the button that says "Options...". There will either be an arrow or a button that says "Bcc". Click on it. If it was an arrow, now select Bcc. If it said "Bcc" then you are done.

If you are not using Word as you email editor, no problem. Open up a new email as if you were going to create a new email to send. From the menu select "View" followed by selecting the "Bcc Field" menu selection. This will add the Bcc field to your email.

Some of you may not see the "Bcc Field" menu selection from the view menu drop-down. This is because Outlook can be configured to "not show seldom used menu selections". Ugh! Outlook is hiding the menu selection you need! No problem. You just need to expand the menu  so you can select the "Bcc field"

This is done by selecting the two little arrows at the bottom of the menu. Clicking on these arrows opens up the menu to show the full drop down menu. For those of you who do not have the "hide unused menu selections" option selected, you will not see these arrows. You will already see the menu selection you need. I do not like this option, and Microsoft makes it the default. Unfortunately it just causes confusion with very little benefit other than shorter menus. Oh well, that's Microsoft for you!

I have only covered how to show the Bcc field for those using Microsoft Outlook. There are other email clients out there and they all use different menu structures. if you have any questions with your email software on how to show the Bcc field, please feel free to email me at wayne@malibu-blue.com.

Comments

[nancy]

this may sound a tad ignorant... but will the bcc hide my distribution list if I use it through my other server... like secureserver.net?

[social bookmarking]

good thought provoking idea

[Hamish Gale]

I wish there was a plug-in for outlook 2007 that forced myself and other staff to use BCC when sending to a distribution list - or displayed a warning if putting a distribution list in the TO field. It is all too easy to send an email to a distribution list using the TO field.