What is NotebookLM? Google's AI research notebook, now called Gemini Notebook

NotebookLM is Google’s AI research notebook: you give it your own documents, links and videos, and it answers questions about them with citations, then turns them into summaries, study aids and podcast-style audio. If you go looking for it now, you’ll find it under a new name. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026. This guide explains what it does, what changed with the rename, what you get on each plan and how Google handles your data, based on Google’s blog and the Gemini Notebook Help pages as of October 2026.

NotebookLM at a glance

What NotebookLM does

Google’s help center describes Gemini Notebook as “an AI-powered research assistant designed to help you refine and organize your ideas.” The idea is that the AI works from your material rather than the open web. You create a notebook, add sources, and then:

• Chat with your sources. Google says chat answers “only use data from your sources,” and each answer cites direct quotes, text and images from them. Hover over a citation to see the full quote, or click it to jump to that spot in the source.
• Generate study and work outputs from the Studio panel, such as Audio and Video Overviews, reports, mind maps, flashcards, quizzes, infographics and slide decks.
• Take notes alongside your sources and share the notebook with others.

That grounding is the main difference from a general chatbot like the Gemini app: it’s built for reading a pile of papers, notes or transcripts and finding what is in them, with the receipts.

What changed when it became Gemini Notebook

In Google’s announcement, Josh Woodward, who runs Google Labs and the Gemini app, said the product “remains a standalone product focused on being your premier research tool,” but “will now do more across the Google ecosystem, including inside the Gemini app and Google Search.” The practical changes:

• A new name and logo, rolled out gradually from July 16. Google’s Workspace team said mobile users may need to update their app, and that “automatic redirects will ensure existing shared notebooks and user links continue to work.”
• A cloud computer in every notebook. Google says the update “gives every notebook a secure cloud computer” so Gemini Notebook can write and run code for data analysis grounded in your sources. It launched for Google AI Ultra and eligible Workspace business customers, with Google saying it would reach all Pro users on the web over the following weeks.
• Notebooks in the Gemini app. Notebooks you make in Gemini Notebook appear in Gemini, where you can view, edit and chat with them. Renaming a notebook, adding sources or changing custom instructions in one place carries over to the other.
• Notebooks in AI Mode. Your notebooks now also appear in AI Mode in Google Search, though only in English and not in the European Economic Area for now.

You’ll still see “NotebookLM” in some Google pages and URLs, and in plenty of tutorials, so it helps to know the two names mean the same thing.

What sources you can add

Google’s list of supported sources is broad:

• Files: PDF, Word (.docx), text, Markdown, CSV, PowerPoint (.pptx), ePub, images and audio files
• Google content: Docs, Slides, Sheets, Play Books and Gemini chats
• Web content: website URLs and public YouTube videos
• Your own text: copied and pasted text, and notes

Each source can contain up to 500,000 words, or up to 200MB for uploaded files. If you don’t have sources yet, the Sources panel can find some. Fast Research searches the web or your Drive and lets you import results, while Deep Research takes a few minutes to produce a report plus the sources behind it, which you can pick from. Google says Deep Research is limited to users over 18.

What NotebookLM can create

Google notes that Audio and Video Overviews can contain inaccuracies or audio glitches, and both can take a few minutes to generate in the background. For chat, you can also choose a style under Configure Chat: Default, Learning Guide or Custom, such as asking it to respond like a PhD student, plus a response length.

How to start a notebook

According to Google’s help pages:

1. Open Gemini Notebook on the web at notebook.google.com, or in the mobile app.
2. Select Create new notebook.
3. In the pop-up, select Upload a source, then pick the files or links you want, or discover new sources.
4. Ask a question in the Chat panel, or pick an output in the Studio panel.

Screenshot: the Gemini Notebook home page, signed out. Select Sign in to Gemini Notebook with your Google Account to reach your notebooks. Captured by Universal Digital Assistant on October 20, 2026.

To share, add someone’s email as a Viewer (read-only) or Editor (can add or remove sources and notes), make the notebook public for anyone with a Google account, or copy a chat-only link. Google warns that viewers of a chat-only link may still be able to reach the sources.

Plans and limits

Gemini Notebook is free, and the Google AI plans raise its limits. Google’s plan page lists:

Limits are compute-based, so how fast you hit them depends on the features and models you use and the length of your chats. When you reach one, Google says the quota “refreshes every 5 hours until you reach your weekly limit,” and warns limits may change. Paid plans also get advanced sharing, and Pro and Ultra can remove the visible watermark on outputs, except in India, South Korea and Vietnam, where it’s always applied. US prices are $4.99 a month for Plus, $19.99 for Pro and $99.99 or $199.99 for the two Ultra tiers; our Google AI Plus vs Pro vs Ultra guide covers what else each plan includes.

Who can use it

Google says Gemini Notebook works in the browser for users above the age of consent in supported countries, and asks you to verify your age in your Google Account first. Under-18 users get stricter content policies, and some features are 18+ only. Most work and school accounts have access if their admin turns it on, and on Workspace for Education it’s available to users of all ages. The mobile app may have different availability from the web.

Privacy

Google’s privacy page says content in Gemini Notebook “will not be used to directly train our foundational AI models, unless you choose to provide feedback.” Feedback can be reviewed by trained teams after it’s disconnected from your account, and kept for up to three years. For Workspace and Workspace for Education users, Google goes further: uploads, queries and responses aren’t reviewed by humans even when you rate an answer, and aren’t used to train models. Chat history is private to you, and you can clear it from the chat panel’s three-dots menu with Delete Chat History.

Who NotebookLM suits

• Students turning lecture notes and readings into study guides, flashcards and quizzes.
• Researchers and analysts who need answers that point to an exact passage.
• Anyone who learns by listening, through Audio Overviews on a commute.

It’s less useful for open-ended questions about the wider world, where a web-first tool such as Perplexity or the regular Gemini app makes more sense. We haven’t tested the new cloud computer features. For other ways AI can help with everyday work, see ways to be more productive with AI, and for Google’s agent that works on tasks in the background, read what is Gemini Spark.