NotebookLM for sources you already have

What is NotebookLM?

NotebookLM is Google's notebook for reading sources you choose. The product page says you can ask about anything and the responses are grounded in the information you provide. It calls that source-grounded. The same page says the rename to Gemini Notebook does not throw away notebooks you already made.

That is a different job from a general chat. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can draft from whatever you type, and they can also wander. Perplexity is built to search the public web and show links. NotebookLM is the tool you open when the allowed source is the PDF, the notes, or the slides in front of you. The comparison, if you are still choosing, is Which AI should I use?

Google's overview help says you chat with a notebook for grounded information from your sources, with in-line citations. If the information is not in the sources you uploaded, that is one reason it may be unable to answer. The page also says the product can make mistakes, and that answers do not reflect Google's views. It tells you to consult a qualified professional for medical, legal, or financial advice. A notebook is not that professional.

What do you need before you start?

Google's overview help says you need a personal Google Account you manage, or a work or school Google Account. On a work or school account, an admin has to turn Gemini Notebook on. You have to be signed in. The help page says the browser version is for users above the age of consent in supported countries, that you should verify your age, and that people under 18 get stricter content rules. Some features are only for people over 18. The mobile app can have a different country list. If the product will not open, check that help page rather than assuming you clicked wrong.

Bring one source, not a whole hard drive. The overview help lists PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, Google Docs, and Google Slides, and it says you can discover new sources. Discovering a source is still a source you then read. Do not upload a classmate's file, a client's contract, or a medical record with names and ID numbers on it. The do-not-paste list is Keep your data private with AI.

Google's subscriptions page and Google One AI plans page describe more Notebook access on paid Google AI plans, including more features and models, and the subscriptions page describes more Audio Overviews and notebooks on a paid plan. Limits differ by country. This site does not copy a price or a number of sources. The screen you have is the limit that counts.

How do you ask it a question?

Add the source. Then ask one question. Google's chat help says you can ask about the source material, give instructions, and select which sources the notebook should use. It says citations are direct quotes, text, and images from your sources. Hover a citation for the quoted text, or open the line in context. The same page says chat responses only use data from your sources. A creative ask, such as rewriting the ending of a story, may get a reply that the notebook cannot answer. That refusal is a result. Rephrase, or ask a different question. Do not beg it to invent the missing fact.

The chat help also describes a Configure Chat control at notebook.google.com. Default is for general research. Learning Guide is for educational content, so you can grasp a concept. Custom is a style you write. You can choose a response length. None of those styles makes a citation optional.

The same help page then describes experimental actions: searching the web, running code, and creating files, charts, or slides, with or without sources. It says those functions are early, that the notebook can make mistakes, and that you should double-check it. If you needed the answer locked to your PDF, and the reply went to the web, stop. Ask again for a quote from the uploaded source only, or move the web job to Research a topic with AI. The director move is Answer only from your sources.

How do you study with it?

The product page lists study aids you can generate from sources: Audio Overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards, quizzes, video overviews, data tables, infographics, and slide decks. An Audio Overview is a summary read aloud. Google's product page says you can use it for creative projects, including a podcast-style overview of material you provided. It is a way to hear your sources. It is not a source of new facts. If a spoken line is not in the reading, cut it.

For a class, follow your teacher's rules. Upload notes you took or a reading you are allowed to use. Ask for flashcards in the words of those notes. Then answer the cards yourself. Turn lecture notes into flashcards is the same habit in any chat. Turn lecture notes into a study guide and Study for an exam are the next passes. You explain the idea in your own words. You do not submit the notebook's study guide, quiz, or slide deck as your work. Use AI for school the right way is the rule. The Studying topic holds the set.

Learning Guide, when you see it, is a style that asks you to learn the material. It is still not permission to skip the reading. A hard page inside the upload belongs on Understand a hard reading. You do the explaining.

How do you research with it?

Put the report, the policy, or the notes in the notebook. Ask for the decision, the numbers, and the line each one came from. Then open two of those lines in the file. Summarize a long report is that check in a general chat, and it works the same way here. Compare two documents is the job when you have two versions and every difference has to be a quote. A ballot, a health plan, or a contract still has to be a document you are allowed to upload, with identifiers removed.

Public facts that are not in your file do not belong in a fake citation. Use Perplexity or Research a topic with AI, open the page, and only then add a source you trust back into the notebook. Google's chat help says you can import a research report in the experimental flow. Importing it does not make it true. You read it.

A Workspace update on October 23, 2026 says you can type @Gemini Notebook in the Gemini app to create a notebook, add sources, or answer from notebook context, when that connected app is on for your account. Google's help on notebooks in AI Mode says Gemini Notebook grounds responses exclusively in your notebook sources, and that AI Mode in Google Search and the Gemini app may also use web search and other tools. That help page also says the AI Mode integration is not in the European Economic Area, and that notebooks in AI Mode are currently only in English. A notebook inside the Gemini app is not the same limit as Gemini Notebook itself. The write-up of that difference is on Answer only from your sources. The Gemini hub is Gemini.

What should you keep private?

The product page says Google does not use an organization's data to train Gemini Notebook. It says that when you use it as an individual, your data is not used for training unless you share feedback. The overview help says the same thing, and adds that a Workspace or Workspace for Education account's uploads, queries, and model responses are not reviewed by human reviewers and are not used to train AI models. Feedback on a personal account can include the full interaction. Do not send feedback on a file you would not want a reviewer to see.

The help page also says there is no recovery for a deleted notebook, and that you should respect copyright and not share material you do not have the rights to. Deleted means gone. A copyrighted course pack you do not have rights to is not a source you upload because studying would be easier. Google's AI Mode help says chats in AI Mode may be used for ads, personalization, and to improve Google's generative AI models, while sources and notebook instructions are not used that way. Turning off Keep Activity, or deleting AI Mode activity, does not delete the notebook. If that split is unclear, stay in Gemini Notebook itself and do not open the notebook from AI Mode.

Names, member IDs, and account numbers stay off a medical bill before it becomes a source. That reading is Understand a medical bill with AI, and it is not medical, legal, or financial advice. A password never goes in, even in a notebook that cites your files.

What should you open next?

Answer only from your sources · Research a topic with AI · Summarize a long report · Study for an exam · Studying · Research · Which AI should I use?

Official pages for this guide: Gemini Notebook product page, Learn about Gemini Notebook, Use chat in Gemini Notebook, Notebooks in AI Mode, Gemini subscriptions, and Google AI plans.