CC and BCC in email

 

CC means Carbon Copy. If you want to send same copy of your email to many person then you can use this field. You don't need to put all the email addresses in the 'To' field but the email address will be appeared to others as well. For example, if you CC roy@xyz.com and rob@xyz.com on an email, Roy will know that Rob also received the email, while Rob will know that Roy also received the email.

BCC means Blind Carbon Copy. This works as same as CC but the only difference is that other's email address will not be displayed to the recipients. So the recipient will not be aware of the fact that whom have got the same email. For example, if you BCC roy@xyz.com and rob@xyz.com on an email, Roy will not know that Rob also received the email, while Rob will not know that Roy also received the email. So the BCC list is secret – no one can see this list.

In case of reply, all the CC users will receive the reply email but in BCC only the original sender will receive the email.

The term comes form Carbon Paper. In old days, carbon papers were placed between two pieces of paper and while writing in top paper, the copy of writing was placed in second paper by the ink of carbon paper. As a result, a duplicate copy of document can be obtained. In CC or BCC a copy of original email is sent to others.
The To and CC fields work similarly but it is better to use CC in formal email.