Can You CC on a Mail Merge? Yes, Here's How in Gmail
Updated 4 min read
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Yes. With YAMM for Gmail, add a cc column to your Google Sheet to copy a different person on each email, or put an address in your draft's Cc field to copy one person on every email. Gmail's own mail merge allows one Cc address, and none if your list is a spreadsheet. Word's mail merge can't CC at all.
First, which CC do you need?
Copying someone on a mail merge can mean two different jobs:
- The same person on every email. A co-organizer or your manager needs to see each email that goes out.
- A different person on each email. Each employee's email copies their own manager. Each student's email copies their own parent.
The second job is the hard one, because the CC has to come from your list, one row at a time.
Which tools let you CC on a mail merge
| Same person on every email | A different person on each email | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Word (sending through Outlook) | No | No |
| Gmail's own mail merge | One Cc or Bcc address, and none when your list comes from a spreadsheet | No |
| YAMM (Gmail and Google Sheets) | Yes, in your draft's Cc or Bcc field | Yes, with a cc or bcc column |
The Word row comes from Microsoft's own instructions, and the Gmail row from Google's help page, which also says its mail merge only works with some Google Workspace plans.
How to CC on a mail merge with YAMM
Step 1: Install YAMM
Install YAMM from the Google Workspace Marketplace. It adds Yet Another Mail Merge to the Extensions menu in Google Sheets.
Step 2: Write your email as a Gmail draft
Write the email once in Gmail and save it as a draft. Your contact list goes in a Google Sheet, one person per row, with their address in an Email column.
Step 3: Add the CC, one of two ways
Option A: a cc column. Use it when each row copies someone different. Add a column to your sheet and name it cc. In each row, type the address of the person to copy on that row's email. To copy more than one person, put their addresses in the same cell, separated by commas. Each row still needs an address in its Email column.
Name the column bcc instead if the person you're emailing shouldn't see the copy. Keep cc when seeing it is the point, like a parent copied on a message to their child.
Option B: your draft's Cc field. Use it to copy one person on everything. Put the address in your draft's Cc or Bcc field, the way you would for any email. YAMM copies that person on every email in the merge.
Don't put the same person in both places, or they get two copies on those rows.
Step 4: Start the mail merge
In your sheet, open Extensions > Yet Another Mail Merge: Mail Merge for Gmail > Start Mail Merge, pick your draft in the Email Template list and click Send emails. First time? Our mail merge tutorial walks through each screen, and the help center has more ways to reach several people per row.
How a CC counts toward your daily limit
Every copy is an email, and every email counts toward your daily limit.
- A Cc in your draft goes on every email. Send to 200 rows and that person gets 200 copies, so the merge uses 400 of your daily sends, not 200. Gmail's own mail merge counts it the same way.
- A cc or bcc column costs one send per address, and only on the rows where you filled it in.
So if your manager only wants to see what the email looks like, leave them out of the draft and add them in the bcc column on one row. They get one copy instead of 200. And don't copy yourself just to keep a record: YAMM already marks each row as sent in your sheet.
Mail merge or BCC?
They do different jobs. Bcc sends one email to everyone, with the same words, and hides each Bcc'd address from everyone else. A mail merge sends each person their own email, with their own name or details, so there's no list to hide. Here's when Bcc is enough and when to send each person their own email, and how CC works in a regular Gmail email.
