Almost all of us use E-Mails in our professional or personal life. They have become an integrated part of our lives, and each day we send and receive a number of e-mails.
CC and BCC are two such fields that an e-mail contains, and it is important to know them to their full extent. While both of these co-relate a lot, they can be really confusing sometimes as very few people know the differences that lie between them.
CC vs BCC
The difference between CC and BCC is that the former stands for Carbon Copy and happens to be visible to anyone who receives the e-mail, but the latter, on the contrary, stands for Blind Carbon Copy and cannot be seen by other people who have received the email except the person who has received the bcc.
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CC stands for Carbon Copy, as mentioned earlier, and is used when we send an e-mail to one person who is the primary recipient and then copies it to another person who happens to be the secondary recipient. This is used to see the priority and significance of the recipients in a proper sequence and is very useful in avoiding sending the same e-mail to everyone one by one.
But on the contrary, BCC that is Blind Carbon Copy itself, shows by its name that it happens to be somehow hidden in the main e-mail. This is the correct assumption as this address field is not visible to the people added in the To or CC address list.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | CC | BCC |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | CC is used when we send an e-mail to one person who is the primary recipient. | Blind Carbon Copy itself suggests by its name that it happens to be somehow hidden in the main e-mail. |
| Full form | It stands for Carbon Copy in its complete meaning. | It stands for Blind Carbon Copy in its complete meaning. |
| Position in the email | It is the second address line of an e-mail. | It is the third and last line of address in the body of an e-mail. |
| Visibility | It is visible to all the recipients of an e-mail. | It is not visible to other recipients of an e-mail. |
| Uses | It is used when we want to send the e-mail to one main recipient and secondary recipient and wish to let them both know that they both are involved in a conversation. | It is used when the sender does not want to let other recipients know that the e-mail has been sent to other people too. |
| Significance | It is more significant. | It is less significant when it comes to the universe of e-mail. |
What is CC?
The term CC stands for Carbon Copy, but in terms of e-mail, it does refer to the electronic carbon copy of an e-mail. It is used when an e-mail is being sent to a person who is the primary recipient of the e-mail, but the sender wishes to send it to other people too.
This issue is resolved by the carbon copy feature ad it allows the sender to prioritize the recipients in the correct order. Looking at its position, it happens to be the second line of address in the body of an email.
The most significant feature of this address line, as compared to the other lines, is that it happens to be visible to all the recipients. The person who is the primary recipient or the person who is the tertiary recipient both can see this particular line of the address.
What is BCC?
The term BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy, and as suggested by the name itself, it refers to that address line of an e-mail that does not appear in front of the other recipient and stays hidden. It is used when an e-mail is being sent to a person who is the primary recipient of the e-mail, but the sender wishes to send it to other people too.
It happens to be the non-visible part of the e-mail and cannot be seen by other people who tend to receive the e-mail.
It is less significant when it comes to the universe of e-mail. The main uses of this are as follows-
- When the address of an individual is sensitive and is not supposed to get disclosed to other people.
- When the sender does not want to let, other people know that any other party is involved too.
- It smoothens communication and makes it easy for people to receive an e-mail without the issue.
Main Differences Between CC and BCC
- CC is used when we send an e-mail to one person who is the primary recipient. But on the contrary, Blind Carbon Copy itself suggests by its name that it happens to be somehow hidden in the main e-mail.
- CC stands for Carbon Copy, while BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy.
- CC is used when we want to send the e-mail to one main recipient and secondary recipient, but BCC is used when the e-mail is to be sent to someone whose name we do not wish to disclose.
- CC happens to be visible to other recipients, while BCC is not visible.
- CC is the second line of address of an e-mail, but BCC is the third line of the address.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563220302302
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6920762/
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
