Composing an Email in Brightspace

This Information is Intended for: Instructors, Staff, Students
Created: 08/23/2022 Last Updated: 09/16/2024
This article has been updated to reflect changes made to the email tool in Brightspace as of 12/22/22

Communications from Brightspace will be sent directly to the recipient's @stonybrook.edu email address. Replies to an email will also be copied to the sender's @stonybrook.edu address. You can send email from the Classlist or the Email tool in Brightspace

In this article, you will learn how to

How is this different from Blackboard?

How can students receive notifications for course updates?


Alternatively, you can get a list of student email addresses in SOLAR 


Option 1: Email from Classlist

Following these instructions ensures that all students receive an email.  

1. In Course Admin, click Classlist:
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2.  Near the top, select the Email Classlist button.
*Be sure to use Email Classlist and not the Email button below that.  Using the Email Classlist ensures all students (especially in large classes >200 receive the email).  The Email button below that only sends messages to students listed on that page.
Email Classlist

3.  At the bottom of the Email Classlist page, click Send Email.
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4.  Select all or some of the students and then click Email.
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5. Type your message and click the Send button
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Please note that this option will place the message recipients in the BCC field by default.

Option 2: Send Messages from the Email Tool

This option is only recommended to email individual, or small groups of students. To email a large class of students, use the Email Classlist button described in Option 1 above. 

  1. While in your course, select the envelope icon at the top of your screen
  2. Click Email
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  3. Select the Address Book button
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  4. Choose the students you wish to email
  5. Select the To, Cc, or Bcc buttons to add them to the corresponding fields
  6. Select the Add Recipients button
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  7. Type your message to the students
  8. Click the Send button
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How is this different from Blackboard?

Brightspace's emailing system functions the same way that Blackboard's did with an added benefit: Brightspace also has a sent button in the email tool, which allows you to view any email you sent from Brightspace. To access this, follow these steps:

  1. Select the envelope icon at the top of the screen
  2. Click Email
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  3. Choose the Sent Mail button
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How can students receive notifications for course updates?

To learn how students can receive notifications for course updates, check out this article!

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