How to Send Email to Multiple Recipients Separately in Outlook

Emails are an essential part of professional communication, but when you need to reach multiple recipients, sending a generic group message can often feel impersonal. 

For many professionals, the challenge lies in efficiently sending individual emails without spending too much time on the process. 

Outlook offers a solution that enables you to send separate emails to multiple recipients without the need for manual composition of each one. 

This blog will explore how to send emails to multiple recipients separately in Outlook, making each email feel personal while saving you time. Let’s get started.

TL;DR 

• Why Not Use "To" or "CC": Using "To" or "CC" exposes recipients' email addresses and can come across as impersonal, making it less professional.

• BCC for Privacy: The BCC field helps keep email addresses private but lacks personalisation and can trigger spam filters if overused.

• Mail Merge for Personalisation: Mail Merge in Outlook lets you send personalised emails to multiple recipients, but it requires some setup in Excel and Word.

• Outlook Distribution Lists: Distribution Lists with BCC can save time, but managing them has privacy risks, and personalisation is limited.

• NewMail AI for Efficiency: NewMail AI automates personalised emails for multiple recipients, streamlining the process and ensuring privacy while saving time.

Why Not Just Add Everyone in "To" or "CC"?

When it comes to emailing multiple recipients, sending the same message individually can be time-consuming. 

So, why not simply add everyone to the "To" or "CC" fields and be done with it? Well, there are a few reasons this might not be the best choice.

• Protects Recipient Privacy
  Using the "To" or "Cc" fields exposes everyone's email addresses. By utilising BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) or mail merge, each recipient’s email stays private, ensuring professionalism and compliance with privacy standards.

• Improves Deliverability
  Emails sent in bulk with multiple recipients often get flagged as spam. By sending emails separately, you bypass common spam triggers, helping your emails land in the inbox and protecting your sender reputation.

• Feels Personal and Professional
  Outlook's mail merge tool allows for personalised greetings, such as "Hi Sarah,” instead of “Dear Customer.” This small personalisation boosts engagement and trust with your audience, making the communication feel more human and relatable.

• Essential for Certain Scenarios
  For communications involving sensitive data or legal requirements like client updates or marketing emails, it’s necessary to send emails individually. This practice ensures privacy and complies with regulations like CAN-SPAM.

• Lays the Foundation for Future Campaigns
  Learning the art of sending separate emails sets the stage for scaling your email outreach. Using Outlook's mail merge or NewMail AI to automate responses and task management ensures you maintain control and professionalism while scaling your email outreach.

Now that we've covered why that approach isn't ideal, let's explore some better ways to send individual emails to multiple recipients in Outlook.

Also Read: AI Inbox Management for Sales 

Now that we’ve covered why that approach isn’t ideal, let’s look at some better ways to send individual emails to multiple people in Outlook.

How to Send Email to Multiple Recipients Separately in Outlook

To send an email to multiple recipients separately in Outlook, ensuring each person receives their personalised message without seeing others' email addresses, follow these steps.

Method 1: Use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)

The BCC feature in Outlook enables you to send the same email to multiple recipients while keeping their email addresses private from one another. 

Steps to Use BCC in Outlook:

1. Create a New Email: Open Outlook and start composing a new email.

2. Enable BCC Field: If the "BCC" field is not visible, click on the "Options" tab and select "BCC" to display the field.

3. Add Recipients: In the BCC field, add all the email addresses you want to send the email to. You can enter individual email addresses or use a contact list.

4. Write Your Email: Compose your message as you normally would.

5. Send the Email: Once everything looks good, hit "Send." Each recipient will receive the email, but they won’t see anyone else’s email address.

Pros of Using BCC:

• Built-In Outlook Feature: No need for extra tools or add-ins.

• Quick and Easy: Ideal for small batches of emails, especially when speed is a priority.

• Recipient Privacy: All recipients remain anonymous to one another, which is great for confidentiality

Cons of Using BCC:

• Impersonal: While it keeps emails private, it lacks personalisation, which can impact engagement.

• One Email Thread: Even though recipients don’t see each other’s emails, everyone still gets the same message.

• Risk of Spam Filters: Overuse of BCC can sometimes cause your emails to be marked as spam by email service providers.

By using BCC, you can quickly send an email to multiple recipients without them knowing who else is receiving it, helping you maintain privacy and keep things simple. 

Method 2: Use Mail Merge with Outlook, Word, and Excel

If you need to send personalised emails to multiple recipients individually, Mail Merge is a powerful tool within Outlook and Word. It allows you to automate email sending while maintaining a personal touch for each recipient.

Steps to Use Mail Merge:

1. Prepare Your Contact List in Excel
   Create an Excel file with at least two columns: one for email addresses and the other for any personalised information (e.g., names, company names). Ensure the data is clean and formatted correctly.

2. Set Up Mail Merge in Word
   Open Microsoft Word and go to Mailings → Start Mail Merge → Email Messages. This sets up your email format to send through Outlook.

3. Insert Merge Fields
   In the email body, click on Insert Merge Field and select the columns from your Excel file that you want to include, such as First Name or Company. This step personalises the content, making each email unique.

4. Connect Your Excel File to Word
   In Word, click on Recipients → Use an Existing List, and choose the Excel file you've prepared. This links your contact list to the email message, allowing for personalised fields.

5. Compose Your Email in Word
   Write your email content around the merge fields. For example, "Dear [First Name]," or "Hello [Company Name]," so that each recipient sees the correct details when they open the email.

6. Preview and Test the Emails
   Before sending, always use the Preview Results button in Word to check how your emails will appear to each recipient. This ensures that the personalised fields are inserted properly.

7. Finish the Merge and Send Emails
   Once you’re happy with the preview, go to Finish & Merge → Send Email Messages. Choose the email subject and format, then hit OK. Word will send individual emails through Outlook, ensuring each recipient gets their personalised message.

8. (Optional) Attach Files
   If you need to attach files to each email, you will need a third-party tool like Mail Merge Toolkit to attach personalised files along with the email content.

Pros of Using Mail Merge:

• Personalised Emails: Each recipient gets a unique message, making your communication more engaging.

• Efficient for Large Batches: Ideal for sending bulk personalised emails without the risk of group emails being sent to the wrong people.

Cons of Using Mail Merge:

• Setup Can Be Time-Consuming: It requires initial configuration in both Excel and Word.

• Limited Formatting: Compared to email marketing platforms, Mail Merge offers fewer advanced formatting options.

Using Mail Merge is especially useful when sending emails to a large number of recipients individually, making sure privacy is maintained and communication is targeted.

Also Read: Best Email Automation Tools in 2025

Method 3: Use Outlook Distribution Lists with BCC 

Using Outlook Distribution Lists with BCC can seem like an efficient way to send bulk emails, but it comes with drawbacks around privacy and personalisation. 

Pros:

• Efficiency: Once set up, sending emails to a group of contacts becomes much quicker, as you don’t have to add individual email addresses each time.

• Time-Saving: Great for sending announcements or internal communications to the same group without manually selecting each recipient.

Cons:

• Privacy Risks: Although using BCC, distribution lists can still expose recipient information if not managed properly, especially when lists are shared or misused.

• No Personalisation: Everyone receives the same email with no individualised content, making it less engaging for recipients.

• Recent Updates: As of August 2023, managing distribution groups directly in Outlook on the web is no longer supported, complicating group management for many users.

Steps to Use Distribution Lists with BCC:

1. Create a Distribution List

   • Open Outlook and navigate to Contacts.

   • Click on New Contact Group and name your group (e.g., "Clients," "Newsletter Recipients").

   • Add contacts from your Outlook Contacts or Address Book.

2. Prepare the Email

   • Create a new email and click the Bcc button to add recipients.

   • Select the distribution list you created from your contacts and add it to the Bcc field to keep email addresses hidden from recipients.

3. Send the Email

   • Write your subject and message.

   • Once everything is set up, click Send. All members in the distribution list will receive the email, but they won’t see each other’s email addresses.

While BCC hides recipients from each other, distributing emails to a group using distribution lists can expose email addresses if the list isn’t managed correctly, especially in the case of shared lists or incorrect configuration.

Also Read: Benefits of AI in Email Marketing Automation

If you're looking for an even simpler way to handle this, NewMail AI can help make the process faster and more efficient, all while maintaining a personal touch.

Streamline Sending Emails Separately with NewMail AI

After learning how to send emails to multiple recipients separately using BCC or Mail Merge in Outlook, why not make the process even simpler? 

NewMail AI can help you automate and personalise email replies to multiple recipients individually, saving you time and effort.

Key Features of NewMail AI:

• Automated Personalised Replies: NewMail AI generates high-quality, personalised responses to each recipient, making it easier to send tailored emails without extra effort.

• Individual Email Delivery: Each recipient receives their email separately, ensuring their information is kept private and your communication stays personal.

• Smart Prioritisation: Automatically prioritise incoming emails, so you can stay on top of important communications and send timely responses.

• Easy Integration: Seamlessly integrates with Gmail and Apple Mail, automating email management and keeping things simple without extra software.

Ready to Simplify Your Email Workflow?

Experience the ease of sending personalised emails to multiple recipients separately with NewMail AI. Start Your Free Trial and streamline your email communication today!

Conclusion

Sending emails separately in Outlook is easy with the right method. BCC lets you send the same message to multiple people while keeping their addresses private, but it lacks personalisation and can trigger spam filters. 

For those seeking an even more efficient solution, NewMail AI surpasses the manual work required by traditional methods such as BCC and Mail Merge. 

It automates the process of sending personalised emails while prioritising privacy, ensuring each email is delivered individually to recipients without requiring extra tools or complex configurations. 

Learning how to send individual emails to multiple recipients efficiently will improve your workflow and help you build stronger, more personal connections with your audience. Start for free today and experience the future of email communication!