# How Do I Hide Recipients' Names in E-Mail?



## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

I want to send an e-mail to a large list of people, and I do not want the recipients to see the list in the "To" box. One way I know is to place the recipients in the blind copy box.

But I received an e-mail recently from someone who sends to lists, and there were no names whatsoever in the "To" box of the e-mail I received as a member of the list. How is that accomplished?


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

I forgot to say that I am asking about a function in Microsoft Outlook 2000 (SR-1). Sorry I omitted this information.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Galleherjazz,

Sent them all BCC:


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

HeWee,

Yes, I understand that sending a list to blind copy will hide all names, but the recipient will see his or her name in the "In" box. There must be a way to hide absolutely all recipients names, including the name of the one receiving the e-mail. I hope I am making myself clear.

That is... I received an e-mail from someone who sends to a big list of people. When I opened it, even MY name was not in the "In" box. How do I send such an e-mail?


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## jjb (Dec 9, 2001)

I think I know what you are refering to and have also tried to figure this out to. I receive mail from certain people and in the TO: line it says......."undisclosed recipient". I have never been able to find this option in outlook,yahoo mail or hotmail. So I to would like the answer to this.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I don't use Outlook but the older netscape it you address the to: to yourself and then BCC: the rest I think it may show up the way you want. But I am not sure so hang on because alot of others here will know.


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

I tried to upload a picture of the e-mail where the "To" line was blank. It appeared to go through, but it didn't post. I see the option here, but my question is, can we upload photos and files on this forum?


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

Here is the e-mail with the blank "To" line.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

I see you got it to work.

Attach file:
Maximum size: 204800 bytes
Valid file extensions: gif jpg png txt bmp jpeg


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

Check THIS out!!

The puzzle continues:

Here is what I have discovered so far:

If I put my address, along with other recipients' addresses, only in the "Bcc" box and nothing in the "To" box or the "Cc" box, I get a letter with my address in the "To" box. I DO NOT WANT THIS!

If I put another recipient's address in the "Cc" box and my e-mail address in the "Bcc" box, THEN I get a blank "To" box!
BUT...the "Cc" box will, of course, announce the recipient of the copy!  I DO NOT WANT THIS EITHER!

My desire is to compose an email in which ALL recipients' names are hidden, including the main recipient and all blind copy recipients! In other words, I want all names, including the recipient who receives the email to see no name in any recipient panels!


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## jjb (Dec 9, 2001)

Dunno why this is so important to you but that is not my business. I am still interested on how this is done and what the pupose is........more curiousity then anything.

In my case I have never received emails with blank To: lines, but as I mentioned earlier the To: line reads undisclosed recipients..............I am perplexed because in either situation the email is addressed to me and I know that...........so what purpose does either serve?
Also..............I am not sure about the blank To: line,but in my case with the undisclosed recipient if you right click and view properties it shows the recipient addy anyway.............have you checked to see if this is the case with the blank TO: line also?
If it shows addy in properties it seems a mute point in either case,unless I am missing the point here.


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

I think a completely blank To: line with no more information in the headers about sender, may have been a spoofed email. This is really easy to do, but the people that run the mail servers don't generally like it.


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

You are correct, it makes little, if no, difference whether the recipient's name is in the "To" line or not. After all, no OTHER name appears there if the recipients are put in the "Bcc" box. My interest was largely academic.

What does "spoofed" mean, brendandonhu?


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

It means they used fake information when sending the email. This is usually done by connecting to the SMTP server through a telenet program and using certain commands.


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

Thanks. But I doubt that my friend intends to deliberately omit any name from the "To" line. I guess I'll just let this subject be for now! Thanks, everyone, for the information.


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

YOu can always ask him how he did it. It may also have something to do with his mail program.


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

Do you know what: I just did! 

Instead of going to the source, I've bothered all you good and busy techies with this academic question. I shall certainly report what he tells me if he bothers to take the time.

Again, thanks, buddies


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

The guy who sends me e-mails with NOTHING in the "To" box wrote as follows:
"I send my stuff to over 300 people & put it all in the Bcc field. "

So there must be something inherent in his e-mail program that prevents names from appearing in the "To" box.

Time to move on to more serious problems! And solutions!

Thanks and adieu to this topic!


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## RandyG (Jun 26, 2000)

jjb - OLEXP: Messages Addressed to Undisclosed Recipients in Outlook Express

Galleherjazz - I used OE 5 to test, and no name in To or CC gave me Undisclosed Recipients in the To box.

Sending the same mail from Outlook 2000 put my name in the To box.

I also sent a mail to 2 of my accounts from my wife's account, and the mail was received into both accounts, but addressed to my wife's account.

You are correct that this action is determined by the sender's email program.

What is the email program and version that your friend is using to send the mail, and is he also sending through an Exchange server in work?


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## bunsen (Dec 9, 2002)

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but my question is very similar.

I want to send to multiple recipients via BCC, _but_ I want each recipient to see his own email address in the "to" field, as if it was only sent to him.

Can this be done with Outlook Express?

I've tried leaving the "to" field blank, this shows "Undisclosed Recipient".

Putting my own e-mail address there did not work either. It just made it look like I'd e-mailed myself.

I also tried putting all the BCC addresses in the TO field, but then everyone's address was visible.

Any ideas?


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## RandyG (Jun 26, 2000)

[tsg=welcome][/tsg]

You might get better results starting a thread of your own, but then maybe Mail Merge will work for you, if you have Word.

It will send to all recipients of your address book.

Go into Word's Help and search for Mail Merge.


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## AbvAvgUser (Oct 3, 2002)

I don't really have any solution to these problems, but just posting here so that I get a notification each time a new post is added to this thread. I am interested in knowing these things.


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

There is a subscribe to thread link at the bottom of each page so you can get notified without having to post.


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## AbvAvgUser (Oct 3, 2002)

brendandonhu:
Thanks buddy. I just noticed it immediately after posting. Anyway, it doesn't make much difference except a couple of posts here or there. Right?


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

Nope, its just easier.


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## AbvAvgUser (Oct 3, 2002)

Easier may be, but posting even inches me closer towards a higher membership status


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## Galleherjazz (Sep 24, 2002)

This is beyond doubt the best computer tech forum I have used. I have never failed to get precisely the help I need. I owe each contributor to this thread a thank you. I've done my homework and disabled several services, read up on what they all mean, and learned a good deal. Thanks!


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## mrodgers (Aug 18, 2004)

to send an email to undisclosed recipients:

Create a new message in your email client. 
Insert "Undisclosed Recipients" in the To: field, followed by your email address in "<,>" braces. 
The To: field should look like: "Undisclosed Recipients <[email protected]>". 
Put all the recipients' email addresses in the Bcc: field, separated by commas. 
The Bcc: field could look like: "[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]". 
Compose your message. 
Send it.

Handy for school administrators sending 100's of emails at a time


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