Why not just have an easy button that you can click saying Do Not Allow Reply All?
I know that there are some ways you can limit reply-all availability, like in the URL linked here. But there’s a note: If recipients open this email in other mail applications except Microsoft Outlook, such as opening on web page via web mailbox, they can reply all this email.
I’m semi-tech savvy but I’m no programmer. It feels like it should be easy to do, so either I’m totally wrong or email services are really missing out on a great thing they could do.
Step 1: draft an email to yourself
Step 2: put all recipients in the BCC
Step 3: now “reply all” does jack shit
I use BCC semi-frequently at work because it prevents all kinds of (mostly unintentional) annoyances from my coworkers. Mostly with automated emails related to reports and/or our case management system. BCC is your best friend when used selectively.
Just don’t use it for mass mailing external addresses. That’ll get you on a blacklist faster than you’d think.
Just don’t use it for mass mailing external addresses. That’ll get you on a blacklist faster than you’d think.
What do you mean by this?
My favorite thing is when I notice the chain is emailing people who don’t need to see it and Reply All after moving them to BCC (I add a note saying “moved X to BCC” for transparency).
People love me :-)
Here’s my snarky take on it:
Because it’s not the job of the mail client to decide what parts of the protocol should be hidden from stupid users.
The solution is if you’re sending a mass email that shouldn’t be replied to you use BCC. So it’s really the sender’s fault
Outlook does give a warning now if you’re sending to a distro list
As the other commentors have said, this isn’t a problem with email services, it’s a problem with email users. If you put all the addresses in the “To:” or “CC:” boxes, its because you want someone to Reply All. If you want to prevent that, put all the recipients in the BCC box.
Its a good idea, but fortunately someone already solved it a good while back. Now we just need a PSA to teach people to stop cramming everyone in the wrong box.
People in my organization do this, and it’s great. The only downside to that is when you want recipients to know exactly who else the email was sent to. Not super common, in my experience, but it does occur.
My wife and I were doing big renovations on our home and were dealing with lots of contractors. I would email them and include my wife’s email. Yet every contractor failed to press reply all when responding so my wife was constantly left out of the loop
It turns out people just don’t care to think about or understand basic technology.
This stuff really needs to be taught in school (like how we used to have typing and business communication classes)
