How to Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients in Outlook

Keep your email recipient list secret

What to Know

  • Create a new contact in the address book and enter Undisclosed Recipients in the Full Name box. Enter your email in the Email field.
  • Compose an email and add Undisclosed Recipients to the To field. Enter additional email addresses in the Bcc field.

This article explains how to create an Undisclosed Recipients contact in Outlook so you can send an email and keep everyone's addresses private. Instructions apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007; and Outlook for Microsoft 365.

How to Create an Undisclosed Recipients Contact

To create a contact that appears in the To field of an email message and hides the recipients' contact information, open Outlook and follow these instructions:

  1. Go to the Home tab and, in the Find group, select Address Book.

    Viewing the Outlook inbox with the address book button highlighted. Screenshot
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  2. Select File > New Entry.

    Selecting a new entry for the address book in Outlook. Screenshot
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  3. In the New Entry dialog box, select New Contact.

    Choosing to create a new contact in Outlook. Screenshot
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  4. Select OK.

  5. In the Full Name text box, enter Undisclosed Recipients.

    A new contact labeled undisclosed recipients is being created in Outlook. Screenshot
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  6. In the Email text box, enter your email address.

    Entering in an email address in the contact card in Outlook. Screenshot
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  7. Select Save & Close.

    If you have an existing address book entry that uses your email address, the Duplicate Contact Detected dialog box appears. Select Add new contact, then choose Add.

  8. Close the Address Book.

How to Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients in Outlook

Here's how to send an email using the undisclosed recipients contact:

  1. Create a new email message in Outlook.

  2. In the To field, enter Undisclosed Recipients. As you type, Outlook displays a list of suggestions. Choose the undisclosed recipient contact.

    Starting a new email message in Outlook screenshot
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  3. Select Bcc.

    If you don't see the Bcc button, go to Options and select Bcc.

  4. Highlight the addresses you want to email and select Bcc. If you type these addresses manually, separate each address with a semicolon.

    Adding recipients in the BCC field in Outlook screenshot
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  5. Select OK.

  6. Compose the message.

    And email message with recipients in the BCC field ready to compose in Outlook screenshot
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  7. Select Send.

FAQ
  • How can I see the BCC recipients in an email in Outlook?

    Unless you're the sender, you can't. If you sent the email, go to the Sent Items folder and open the message. Under the Reading Pane, view the header section of the message.

  • How do I add multiple Cc or Bcc recipients to an Outlook email?

    There are two ways. You can either select Cc/Bcc and choose recipients from your address book, or manually enter them. If you manually enter them in each, use a semi-colon to separate email addresses.

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