NotebookLM gives you a personalized AI collaborator that helps you do your best thinking. After uploading your documents, NotebookLM becomes an instant expert in those sources so you can read, take notes, and collaborate with it to refine and organize your ideas.
NotebookLM is available to all users (18+) in the 180+ regions where the Gemini API is available in.
You can interact with your sources by writing questions or instructions into the chat box. Click the arrow or type the Enter key to send your question.
Things to try:
Ask NotebookLM any question about the information in your sources, and it will respond with an answer along with citations from the documents you've uploaded. Clicking on a citation will take you directly to the original passage in the source to show you what NotebookLM based its answer on. Some examples:
Upload meeting notes and ask it to “summarize all the discussion of 2024 marketing budgets" Upload a scientific article about neuroscience and tell NotebookLM to “create a glossary of key terms related to dopamine” Upload a set of notes about an historical figure like Grace Hopper and ask, “What were some of Hopper’s contributions to computer science?”
NotebookLM is not just limited to factual queries. You can also get creative with it. For example:
Upload a draft of a short story and tell it to “suggest ideas for a new character I could add to this narrative” Upload a business plan and get NotebookLM to “suggest three new features for this product” Upload the draft of a blog post and ask, “What are three titles/subtitles for this post?”
When asking questions, you can control which sources are used by NotebookLM to create the response. In the source viewer, check the box for the sources you’d like to use for your next query. The prompt bar keeps count of how many sources are being used for responses.
Creating a new note There are several ways to create new notes in NotebookLM:
Save a model response to notes - If you receive a response that you like, click the pin in the response box to save the response to Notes. Saved response notes are not editable once created.
Save a quotation or summary from one of your sources - While reading a source, select text that you want to save, and choose either Add to note or Summarize to note to create a new note. These saved notes also are also not editable.
Use existing notes to create a new note - Select notes and choose one of the suggested actions to create a new note based on their content. For example, select all your notes and choose Create study guide.
Write a new note - In the upper-right corner of the Notes section, click Add note. You can write or paste text into this note.
Using writing tools
While writing a note, you can use NotebookLM’s suggested actions to help you improve both the style and substance of your prose. Just select text in the note and choose one of the suggested actions.
A source is a static copy of the source document you import or upload to the app. When using NotebookLM, the model will use the sources you upload to answer your questions or complete your requests. You can see the full list of supported source types in the below section.
NotebookLM can’t delete or edit your original files. When you upload a Google Doc or a local PDF file from your computer, the app makes a copy of the original file. NotebookLM doesn’t keep track of changes to the original doc automatically, including access to it, so you have to manually refresh any local file you uploaded or use the Click to Sync button to refresh imported Google Docs and Slides in the source viewer.
Source Overview When you upload a new source to NotebookLM, the app instantly creates a source overview that summarizes the document and offers key topics and questions to ask. Think of it as a research assistant that helps you better understand the source material.
Source Types and Limitations Right now, NotebookLM supports the following source types: Google Docs Google Slides PDF, Text and Markdown files Web URLs Copy-pasted text Youtube URLs of public videos Audio files Each source can contain up to 500,000 words, or up to 200MB for uploaded files. Each notebook can contain up to 50 sources. We’ll review these limits periodically to help determine the best user experiences Avoid uploading documents you don’t have the applicable rights to
Importing via Web URL
Only the text content of the given webpage will be scraped for use as a source; images, embedded videos or nested webpages will not be imported Paywalled webpages or those that have disabled web scraping are not supported
Importing via YouTube URL
Only public YouTube videos with captions (either user-uploaded or auto-generated) are supported Only the text transcript of the video will be imported as a source Recently uploaded videos (<72 hours) may not be available to import; you may try again later Videos with no speech are not supported Sources will be auto-deleted from your notebook within 30 days if the video itself is deleted or made private No limit for length of video, unless the caption file contain over 500,000 words My import still failed, why? This is possible for a number of reasons, but the most common are: the content isn't a valid YouTube link, the video is potentially unsafe, the content does not have a captions file that I can read, or the video language is currently not supported.
Importing a local Audio file
The audio file will be transcribed during import and its text will be saved to use as a new source Supported audio file types include MP3, WAV, among others Audios with no speech are not supported
Notebooks are the way you organize projects in NotebookLM. They are similar to how folders organize the files on your computer. Each notebook is totally separate, so NotebookLM can’t access information from multiple notebooks at the same time.
Sharing notebooks You can share notebooks by opening a notebook and clicking the Share icon in the top-right corner of the screen. You can grant either Viewer or Editor access to another user by adding their email address.
A viewer will have read-only access to all the source documents and notes you shared with them in the shared notebook An editor will be able to view, add, or remove sources and notes in your shared notebook as well as share it further with other users Personal gmail accounts can share a notebook with up to 50 other individual users, but can't share with Google Groups.
Enterprise or EDU accounts (e.g. [email protected] or [email protected]) can share a notebook with an unlimited number of individual users and google groups within the same organization.
Notebook Guide When you open a notebook with sources loaded, the app instantly generates a Notebook Guide that summarizes all source documents automatically, and give you a big-picture view of the entire notebook, with quick links to generate FAQ, Briefing Doc, Table of Contents, and Timeline based on all content in the Notebook.
Audio Overview Audio Overviews are lively “deep dive” discussions between two AI hosts who summarize key topics in your sources. Note that Audio Overviews are not meant to be a subjective view of a topic of the AI hosts, but simply a reflection of the source content that you have uploaded.
How to generate an Audio Overview: Open an existing notebook (or create a new one and upload some sources)
Open the Notebook guide
Click on the Generate button
Wait for several minutes Note: you need edit access to a notebook in order to generate or delete an Audio Overview.
How to load an Audio Overview: Only applicable to notebooks that have previously generated Audio Overviews
Open an existing notebook
Open the Notebook guide
Click on the Load button
Wait for several seconds How to share an Audio Overview: Option #1: Generate an Audio Overview, then share it by clicking on the share icon in the audio player and generating a public share URL.
Public sharing is only enabled for consumer accounts, and currently disabled for Workspace Enterprise or EDU accounts
Only notebook owners or editors are able to generate a public share URL for the generated audio, and they can later turn off public sharing by toggling off Public access in the sharing panel
Once an audio is deleted or regenerated, any previously generated public share URL will no longer work
Option #2: Generate an Audio Overview, then share the entire notebook with another user. They will be able to load the same Audio Overview once they click into Notebook Guide.
Option #3: Download the Audio Overview through the Download button within the three dots on the player and share the downloaded audio. Audio Overview limitations: Audio Overviews (including the voices) are AI-generated, so there might be inaccuracies and audio glitches.
Audio Overviews are only in English at this moment.
It can take a few minutes to generate an Audio Overview (feel free to do other things while generation is in progress).
You can’t interrupt the AI hosts yet to join the conversation. Notebook Limitations You are limited to 100 notebooks
Once you have uploaded your sources, you can ask the model questions about your source material or give the model instructions to perform actions.
You can use the checkbox on each source to include or exclude certain sources the model should use to answer your question in a notebook.
Citations For most questions or instructions you give NotebookLM, the response will include one or multiple citations, a specific block of text (and/or images) from your source that is considered relevant to the question and was used by NotebookLM to build the response for you.
Citations are direct quotes, and seeing these passages can help you check the accuracy of the response and find the original quote. You can hover over a citation to see the complete text quoted. You can also click on any one citation to have the source viewer auto-scroll to the location of the quoted text in the sources.
A key feature of NotebookLM is that chat responses only use data from your sources, unless you explicitly ask the model to do something more creative (e.g. “rewrite the ending of my short story”). For this reason, you may receive the chat response “NotebookLM can’t answer this question. Try rephrasing it, or ask a different question.”
Suggested Actions NotebookLM dynamically suggests actions based on what you selected.
When you select a passage while reading a source, NotebookLM automatically offers to summarize the text in a new note, or help you understand technical language or complicated ideas While you’re writing a note, NotebookLM offers tools to polish or refine your prose, or suggest related ideas from your sources based on what you’ve just written When you select one or more notes, NotebookLM offers to combine your notes or create an outline based on the selected notes
You can create up to 1,000 notes per notebook. All your notes are organized on the noteboard.
You can save a useful response to a new note by clicking the Pin icon in the upper-right corner of the response. Notes created from saved responses can’t be edited once they are created. You can type your own text within a note by clicking Add note in the upper-right corner of the noteboard You also can copy and paste responses or passages from your sources into a new note You can also click on a suggested action such as Create an outline when you have one or more existing notes in focus, and NotebookLM will then save the output directly into a new note for you.
The NotebookLM Discord server is another place to post your feedback and interact with other users, including the creators. You can post different use cases that you’re discovering or let us know if you’re encountering any issues.
You can join the server by clicking on Join the community in the top-right corner. Note that Discord uses web technologies that are not supported by Safari, so use Chrome or another browser.
General Information What are the available regions for NotebookLM? NotebookLM is available to all users (18+) in the 180+ regions where the Gemini API is available in.
Should I access NotebookLM on my desktop computer or my mobile device? While mobile is supported, at this time, NotebookLM is best viewed on a desktop computer.
How do I report offensive responses generated in NotebookLM? If you think a response generated in NotebookLM is offensive or unsafe, let us know by clicking on the thumbs down button and choose the Offensive/unsafe as the reason. We will review the report and take appropriate actions to improve the safety of our model.
How do I report a shared Notebook for infringing my rights? If you see content in a shared Notebook that you believe violates the law or your rights, let us know by clicking Report Notebook, which can be found in the three-dot menu for that Notebook on the homepage or via this direct link. We will review the material and consider blocking, limiting, or removing access to it.
What about the privacy of my data in NotebookLM? NotebookLM will never train on any of your data. Please read more here.
Which Gemini version does NotebookLM run on? As of July 2024, Gemini 1.5 Pro. We will continue to experiment on which model works best (and hopefully fastest) to serve our users so this may change over time
Features and Capabilities Will updates to the Google Doc or Slides be reflected in NotebookLM? When you import a Google Doc or Slides into NotebookLM, we make a copy of the original Google Doc in NotebookLM at the moment of upload. Past this point, the app doesn’t keep track of changes to the file automatically, including access to it. NotebookLM can’t delete or edit your original files. You have to manually re-upload any local file, or use the Click to Sync with Drive button to refresh imported Google Docs and Slides in the source viewer.
What is the maximum file size limit for sources in NotebookLM? The current limit is 500,000 words per source. There is no page limit.
What languages does NotebookLM support? NotebookLM currently supports over 35 languages. You can change your language preference in your Google Account settings.
Does NotebookLM support PDFs? Yes, NotebookLM supports PDFs. However, there are some limitations:
Image only PDF: Starting September 2024, image-only PDFs will be better supported. While NotebookLM is improving its handling of images in PDFs, you may need to re-upload previously imported PDFs as functionality improves. Do you have any tips on how I should get NotebookLM to summarize a source? NotebookLM offers two modes for summarizing sources: you may ask for a summary of specific topics from your source directly in the chat, or you can find an auto-generated summary of the entire source in the Source Guide by clicking to open a source in the left hand side source viewer.
When you ask for summaries in the chat for more specific summaries, try these tips:
Ask specific questions about the information you're looking for. If you have multiple sources selected, try including source names in your query to help NotebookLM narrow down the search. For example, instead of "Summarize this source," try "Summarize key findings about dog training from the source document titled Dog Training 101." Can I work on a note collaboratively with others in real-time? Yes! Note edits are reflected in real-time for all collaborators. If you have the same notebook open, any changes made by one person will appear for everyone else who has the notebook open. Only users being added as an “editor” to a shared Notebook can edit notes.
Why does NotebookLM sometimes say it can’t answer my question? There are a few reasons why NotebookLM might not be able to answer your question:
Safety Flags: The content of your source might contain language that triggers a safety flag. This can occur with sensitive topics like violence, sexuality, or obscenity, even in historical contexts. Unclear Phrasing: Try rephrasing your question to be clearer or more specific. When your notebook contains a large set of sources (that exceeds the LLM’s context window size), NotebookLM needs to first retrieve the most relevant information based on your question then try to build a response using this information. A more specific question will help NotebookLM locate these relevant bits of information. Information Not in Sources: NotebookLM is designed to answer questions based on the information provided in your uploaded sources. If the answer isn't in the source material, it won't be able to provide a response. When I import a source via URL, how does NotebookLM handle HTML sources with interactive elements? Only the visible text on the page is imported. Improvements to this import type are underway.
How are sources, chat context, and notes used in responding to prompts? Notes: Only used when specifically selected Sources: Always used, either the entire set or the subset you've selected. Conversation History: Also utilized in generating responses. Is there a dark theme? Yes, you can switch between light/dark/auto mode using the sun icon in the top right corner.
Troubleshooting My source import failed, why? If the source length exceeds the allowed word limit (500,000 words per source), or if your original PDF file is copy-protected, NotebookLM won't be able to import those sources.
Why can't I access NotebookLM on my company or edu email address? NotebookLM is currently available to personal Google accounts and participating enterprise Google Workspace or Google Workspace for Education users.
If you are using a company or edu email address and unable to access the app, please review this help center article and work with your workspace Admin to enable the NotebookLM app for your organization.
Why does my document look different in NotebookLM? When you upload a document, NotebookLM may reformat the content in order to to parse the content.
Why don’t I always get citations? If your source content is too short, NotebookLM will reference the entire document without citing individual text from your source.
Why do different suggested actions show up? Different suggested actions are displayed based on what you have selected. For example, the Combined notes action is only applicable when you’ve selected multiple notes, and the Summarize to note action is only relevant when you highlight a block of text in a source document.
I can't access NotebookLM. What could be the reason? Common reasons include:
Your country may not be supported (https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/available-regions). You might be using a school or work-managed account (e.g. [email protected]), and your organization’s admin needs to enable access to the NotebookLM app. Only 18+ users are permitted to use the app. Why am I getting the message "Access to Google Drive data has been disabled for this account"? This should only happen if you are using a school or work-managed account.
Check with your organization’s admin to see if the Core data access toggle is enabled for your organization: https://support.google.com/a/answer/13515709.
Known Limitations Does chat history persist between sessions? This is currently not supported. There is no capability to save the chat between sessions or screen refreshes. You can save notes by pinning the response.
Is there a way to recover deleted notes in NotebookLM? Unfortunately, there's no way to recover deleted notes at this time.
Does NotebookLM import footnotes from Google Docs? Not yet, but the team is aware of this.
Is there a NotebookLM app? There's no dedicated app for now, but you might be able to install a website shortcut as a progressive web app in some browsers.
Can I make a saved note a source? Can I duplicate a notebook? Neither action is directly supported for now. You can always copy and paste the content in a note and add that as a new source.
Can I customize study guides, for example, into Anki cards for medical school? Not at this moment but it's on our radar.
Will user customizations, like preferred explanation styles, be supported and saved across sessions? Not currently, but a feature to preserve these preferences is being explored.
Definitions
Citation A specific block of text and/or image quoted from your source document that is considered relevant to your question and was used by NotebookLM to build the response for you.
Notebook The way NotebookLM organizes projects. Notebooks are similar to how folders organize the files on your computer. Each notebook is totally separate, so NotebookLM can’t access information from multiple notebooks at the same time.
Noteboard A space within a notebook to copy and paste AI responses and key passages from your sources or to write down thoughts related to your notebook. Each notebook may contain multiple notes.
Source A source document is a static copy of a Google doc or Slides you have access to, a PDF file, or text that is copied and pasted directly into the app at the time of the source upload. When using NotebookLM, the model will use the sources you upload to answer your questions or complete your requests.
Source Overview A summary of a document that you upload or paste into NotebookLM. Source overview are automatically generated and also offer key topics or questions to ask that will help you better understand the source material.
Suggested action Dynamic suggestions that NotebookLM makes based on the content you’ve selected.
What's new
New Source Types: Since launching, we’ve continued to add support for a wide range of source materials using the multimodal capabilities in Gemini. Today, you can now add public YouTube URLs and audio files directly into your notebook, alongside PDFs, Google Docs, Slides, websites and more. See more details on source types supported and limitations in this article.
A faster way to share Audio Overviews: Two weeks ago, we made it possible to create an Audio Overview with one tap. Today, we’re making it possible to share that Audio Overview directly. When you tap “share,” it generates a public link that you can easily share with others. At this time, Workspace accounts cannot use this feature to share Audio Overviews publicly.
What's new Today, we're introducing Audio Overview, a new way to turn your documents into engaging audio discussions. With one click, two AI hosts start up a lively “deep dive” discussion based on your sources. They summarize your material, make connections between topics, and banter back and forth. You can even download the conversation and take it on the go.
To try it out, follow these steps:
Go to NotebookLM. Create a new notebook. Add at least one source. In your Notebook guide, click on the “Generate” button to create an Audio Overview. Learn more about the feature here!
What's new NotebookLM is now officially available as a Workspace Additional Service.
To access NotebookLM as a Workspace customer:
Admins: Customers who had access to NotebookLM as an Early Access App can continue to use it. For all others, admins must turn on Notebook LM as an Additional Service. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning on or off additional Google services.
End users: Once NotebookLM is enabled by your admin, go to NotebookLM.google.com to start using it.
Use this Help Center to learn more about features, how to troubleshoot, and how your data will be handled.
What's new NotebookLM is available to all users (18+) in the 180+ regions where the Gemini API is available. In addition to this expansion:
You can now upload Google Slides as a source (from Google Drive), supported by image understanding Notebook Guide gives you a big-picture view of all your sources, with new formats like FAQ, Briefing Doc, Table of Contents, and Timeline Answers in the chat will now have the citations added inline (instead of in a tray at the bottom) Citations can map to text or images, so when you click on a citation icon, it will scroll you directly to the most relevant section of your sources You can now upload website URLs as a source When you upload Google Docs, it can now support embedded images with image understanding
What's new Increased source limit: Notebooks can now include up to 20 sources.
Increased word count: Sources can now include up to 200,000 words.
Write individual notes: Adding a note will now create an independent new note instead of adding to a single notepad.
Noteboard: You can now see all your written and saved notes pinned to the Noteboard space above the chat box.
Save chat responses as notes. NotebookLM responses can be pinned to the noteboard for your reference later.
Citations saved to notes. When chat responses are saved as notes, it retains the original citations.
Jump to citation in source. Clicking on the citation number in a chat response or a saved note immediately takes you to the original quote in the source.
Expand/collapse source section. You can now hide the source if you want to concentrate exclusively on note-taking.
Focus the AI on selected sources. You can chat with a specific set of sources in your notebook by selecting them individually in the source sidebar.
Source guides integrated into individual sources. Source guides, including summaries and key topics, now appear at the top of each source in the source sidebar.
Shared notebooks: Notebooks can be shared in both viewer and editor modes. Viewer simply shares your assembled sources; editor lets you collaborate on creating notes.
Suggested questions: NotebookLM now automatically suggests followup questions for you, based on your recent conversation history and the content of your sources.
PDF support: PDFs can now be uploaded as sources in NotebookLM, up to 100MB or the word limit.
Copied text support: You can now copy and paste text to create a new source and add/edit the title upon creation.
Example notebooks: Learn more about how to use Notebook before uploading your own sources. See example notes and try Q&A questions.
[Coming next week] Suggested actions. NotebookLM gives you a palette of preselected actions that can be used to transform selected text or notes. (Currently only supporting selected notes.) Initial suggested actions include:
Combine to a single note. Gather all your notes into a single unified note with one click.
Critique. Ask NotebookLM to give you constructive feedback on your prose or argument.
Summarize. Create a concise, easy-to-read overview of the content of multiple notes.
Create outline. Convert your selected notes into an outline, organized around topics.
Create study guide. Create an on-the-fly study guide based on your notes, including key questions and a glossary.
Suggest related ideas. NotebookLM can prompt you with related ideas from your sources based on the content of the selected notes.
@eftahtaddesse @ensinho Thanks, and glad you like it!