BCC message displays BCC names in Contacts field

[densha2004]

Outlook 2003 sp2, Exchange 2003 sp2.

Is there a fix for this or is this a bug?
When I create a new message that is sent BCC the recipient is able to view
the BCC info when they print out the email. The print out will have a the
usual fields of From, Sent, To, Subject. Below the Subject field is the
Contacts field which will display all BCC recipient names. Upon further
exploration it was discovered that the issue is viewable in a new message by
going to options in the message. The Contacts field will be populated with
the names of the BCC recipients. If I delete the names from the Contacts
field the receiver is not able to view the info when printed out.


Steps to replicate issue:
Right click a contact name in your Contacts list
Select New Message to Contact
Left click the name in the To field and drag it to the BCC field
Click View->Options
In the Contacts field is the name of the BCC recipient which was originally
the To recipient. The Contacts field should be empty instead.

The issue only happens when following the steps above. It does not happen
when creating a new message by File->New or by clicking the New icon.

Is there a fix for this or is this a bug?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

That behavior is by design. Using New Message to Contact automatically puts the contact name in the Contacts field. Use another method to create the message if you don't want that behavior. Or bring up the Options dialog and delete the contact information.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[densha2004]

You are correct Sue, the New message to Contact is automatically putting the
contact name in the Contacts field but is not clearing it out when the name
is moved to BCC.

I don't think that is by design because the issue does not happen when I
create a new email by going to File->Mail Message. If you click TO, CC, or
BCC and select a name, Outlook is not also populating Contacts with the same
information. It only happens when you right click a name and select New
message to Contact. Outlook is being inconsistent.

If it is by design then this terrible. People send BCC emails because they
don't want the recipient to see who the email was sent to. It is a bug.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

It is not a bug. The set of "New ___ to/with Contact" commands are all specifically designed to stamp the contact name into the Contacts property. That is one of their primary purposes. They are very consistent.

As I indicated, you can use other methods to create messages if you want to avoid that designed behavior. I can think of at least three just off the top of my head.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[densha2004]

I know of other ways too but that is not addressing the issue. Those are
workarounds. The issue is that the Contacts are stamped with the . If you
move the name from the To field to BCC the Contacts field is not cleared out
or "blanked".

The acronym of BCC is Blind Carbon Copy. More info can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bcc. Like wikipedia states, one of the reasons
you BCC is "to send a copy of your correspondence to a third party (for
example, a colleague) when you do not want to let the recipient know that you
are doing this (or when you do not want the recipient to know the third
party's e-mail address). " The New Message to Contact option is not clearing
the Contacts field after the name is moved from To to BCC. This will make
the email BCC contact's name recoverable and therefor a bug because the BCC
names are not really "blank".

Either Outlook should clear the Contacts stamp when a name is moved from the
To to BCC or BCC should not be an option when an email is created by New
Message to Contacts.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

That sounds like a clear suggestion that you can make to Microsoft through the Communities web interface.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[densha2004]

The inconsistency is that the workarounds like clicking File->New->Mail
Message do not populate the Contacts field in the message options unless
manually done. This means that if I were to add a name to the To field and
then drag it to BCC field Contacts field still would not contain any data.
The BCC recipient would never see other BCC names.

Another inconsistency is that this issue does not happen when the recipient
is using web mail (like gmail or yahoo) and uses Outlook 2003 to pop into the
web mail account. The recipient does not see the Contacts field when making
the message editable (forward, reply or reply to all) and clicking the
message's option button or when the email is printed.

I'm glad you agree that it is a bug or flaw and that Microsoft should be
informed. So I guess this means there is no fix but only workarounds.

I will call Microsoft Product Support Services department at 800-642-7676.

Thanks Sue!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I don't agree that any bug is involved. I do agree that you have a valid suggestion. I don't think, though, that it rise very high on the priority list for Outlook 2007 Service Pack 1 or Outlook 14.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Brian Tillman]

Outlook 2003 sp2, Exchange 2003 sp2.

Is there a fix for this or is this a bug?
When I create a new message that is sent BCC the recipient is able to
view the BCC info when they print out the email. The print out will
have a the usual fields of From, Sent, To, Subject. Below the
Subject field is the Contacts field which will display all BCC
recipient names. Upon further exploration it was discovered that the
issue is viewable in a new message by going to options in the
message. The Contacts field will be populated with the names of the
BCC recipients. If I delete the names from the Contacts field the
receiver is not able to view the info when printed out.


Steps to replicate issue:
Right click a contact name in your Contacts list
Select New Message to Contact
Left click the name in the To field and drag it to the BCC field
Click View->Options
In the Contacts field is the name of the BCC recipient which was
originally the To recipient. The Contacts field should be empty
instead.

The issue only happens when following the steps above. It does not
happen when creating a new message by File->New or by clicking the
New icon.

Is there a fix for this or is this a bug?

It's not showing the Bcc recipients per se. If you use New Message to
Contact and don't move the address to the Bcc field, i.e., leave it in the
To field, it will also appear in the Contacts field on View>Options. The
act of selecting New Message to Contact associates that (or those) contacts
with the message. You can accomplish the same thing by dragging your
selection of contacts to the Inbox to open a new message window.

In other words, the Bcc field has nothing to do with it.