BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy and is a way for you to hide the e-mail addresses of all the people you are sending the message to from everyone who receives it. This means your recipients do not have to dig thru a list of recipients before seeing the message. This also means that spammers who see the message cannot harvest all the addresses listed.

In Outlook Express and Windows Mail the default is for only the TO and CC boxes to appear. To just make a change on one message, click TO or CC. You will then see the option for BCC.

Windows XP had Outlook Express. Vista changed it to Windows Mail. In Windows 7 it is Windows Live Mail and is not included with 7 but must be downloaded from Microsoft.

To change your settings so BCC appears on all messages you create, go in Outlook Express or Windows Mail:

Click to create mail (or message).

Click the View menu.

Click the All Headers option which will put a check beside All Headers.

Now you will have the BCC box showing along with TO and CC.

In Windows Live Mail, create a new message, and click on View menu. Then click CC and BCC so a check mark appears.

Thanks to Mary for the question.

Dwight Watt is a computer instructor at a technical college in northwest Georgia and also does computer work for businesses, individuals and organizations in the Swainsboro area. His webpage is www.dwightwatt.com.