Guide

Gemini Notebook, explained

Gemini Notebook is Google's AI research notebook, and it is the same product that used to be called NotebookLM. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on 16 July 2026. You add your own sources, such as PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, Google Docs and pasted text, and it answers questions using only those sources, with citations you can click to check. It is free with a Google account. Since 2 September 2026, usage is measured by compute and refreshes every 5 hours instead of a fixed daily question count.

This guide is written by Gemini Notebook Toolkit, an independent browser extension. We are not affiliated with Google.

What is Gemini Notebook?

Gemini Notebook is a source-grounded AI tool. A general chatbot answers from its training data and the web. Gemini Notebook answers from the documents you put into a notebook, and each answer points back to the passage it came from.

People use it to study for exams, review research papers, prepare briefings and turn reading lists into Audio Overviews (podcast-style discussions of your sources), Video Overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards and quizzes.

It runs in the browser at notebook.google.com, and there are mobile apps for Android and iOS.

NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook

Google announced the new name on 16 July 2026 as part of bringing its AI products under the Gemini brand. The product did not change: your notebooks, sources and shared links still work.

The main address is now notebook.google.com. Old notebooklm.google.com links redirect to it, so bookmarks keep working.

Many people still search for NotebookLM, and most tutorials published before July 2026 use the old name. Where a guide says NotebookLM, read it as Gemini Notebook.

Read Google's announcement

Is Gemini Notebook free?

Yes. Anyone with a personal Google account can use Gemini Notebook at no cost. Paid Google AI plans and some Google Workspace plans give higher usage limits.

On 2 September 2026 Google switched to compute-based usage limits. Instead of a fixed number of chat questions per day, each action uses an amount of compute that depends on how complex your prompt is, how long the chat has run, how many sources the notebook has, and which features you use. Your quota refreshes every 5 hours, up to a weekly limit. Gemini Notebook shows your remaining usage at the bottom of the chat.

Google publishes the current numbers for each plan on its help pages, and they vary by plan, account type and region. Check those pages before you decide whether to upgrade. We do not repeat the numbers here because they change.

Practical tip: smaller, focused notebooks use less compute per question than one large notebook holding everything.

Google's usage limits help pageGoogle's upgrade options

How to use Gemini Notebook

The basic workflow takes about five minutes:

  1. 1Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
  2. 2Create a notebook. Give it one topic, such as a course, a project or a single research question.
  3. 3Add sources: upload PDFs or documents, paste website or YouTube links, pick files from Google Drive, or paste text.
  4. 4Ask questions in the chat. Click the numbered citations to check each claim against the source.
  5. 5Use the Studio panel to create Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards and quizzes from the same sources.
Step-by-step: how to use Gemini Notebook

Gemini Notebook app, login and download

Login

Sign in at notebook.google.com with a Google account. On a work or school account, your administrator must allow access. If it is turned off, you will see an error when you sign in.

Mobile app

Gemini Notebook has apps for Android (Google Play) and iOS (App Store). The September 2026 features, like the lecture audio recorder and voice conversations with a notebook, are in the mobile apps.

On a computer

On a computer you use Gemini Notebook in a web browser. You do not need to download anything. Browser extensions, including ours, add features around it but are not made by Google.

Open Gemini Notebook

What changed in August and September 2026

Google has shipped a lot since the rename. The changes that matter most:

  • 20 July: Collections started rolling out, so you can group notebooks.
  • 17 August: you can copy a notebook, including its eligible sources and Studio items, when you have copy permission. Chat history and notes are not copied.
  • 2 September: compute-based usage limits replaced fixed daily counts. The quota refreshes every 5 hours.
  • 15 September: a mobile audio recorder for lectures, voice conversations with a notebook, Interactive Learning Overviews, new quiz formats, and short Video Overviews in more than 80 languages.
  • 17 September: Expert Intelligence lets you add compatible Google Play Books you own as sources.
  • API: there is still no public API for personal accounts. An Enterprise API is available in Preview for Google Cloud customers.

Each item above links to Google's own announcement or help page in the sources list below.

How Gemini Notebook Toolkit helps

Gemini Notebook Toolkit is our independent Chrome extension and web library. It helps you gather, organize and back up the material that goes into your notebooks. It does not change Gemini Notebook's limits.

Capture AI chats and hard-to-reach pages

Save ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok conversations, plus Reddit threads, LinkedIn and X posts, and pages you are viewing in your browser, as clean text sources. Gemini Notebook's own link import cannot read AI chat threads.

A searchable library you own

Everything you capture is saved to your private Toolkit library first, so you keep a copy even if you later remove a source from a notebook.

Back up and export

Export your library as Markdown, LaTeX, JSON or plain text. Markdown files open in Obsidian or any editor. The side panel's Export tab can also save the text of an open notebook's sources.

Bulk import

On Pro, import open tabs, a pasted list of URLs, or a CSV in one go instead of adding links one by one.

Send to a notebook

Send a captured web page or YouTube video to an open Gemini Notebook tab from the extension.

Learn more about the extensionCompare Gemini Notebook extensions

Frequently asked questions

What is Gemini Notebook?

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is Google's AI research notebook. You add your own sources and it answers questions from them, with citations to the exact passages.

Is Gemini Notebook the same as NotebookLM?

Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on 16 July 2026. It is the same product. Existing notebooks and links keep working, and notebooklm.google.com redirects to notebook.google.com.

Is Gemini Notebook free?

Yes, it is free with a Google account. Since 2 September 2026, usage is limited by compute rather than a fixed daily question count. The quota refreshes every 5 hours, up to a weekly limit, and paid Google AI plans raise it. See Google's help page for the current numbers.

How do I log in to Gemini Notebook?

Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Work and school accounts need their administrator to turn Gemini Notebook on.

Is there a Gemini Notebook app?

Yes. There are mobile apps for Android and iOS. On a computer, you use it in the browser at notebook.google.com, with nothing to download.

Does Gemini Notebook make podcasts?

Yes. Audio Overviews turn the sources in a notebook into a podcast-style conversation between two AI hosts. You can listen in the app or download the audio.

Is there a Gemini Notebook API?

There is no public API for personal Google accounts. Google offers an Enterprise API in Preview for Google Cloud customers.

Is there a Gemini Notebook Chrome extension?

Google does not publish its own extension. Third-party extensions such as Gemini Notebook Toolkit add capture, organization and export around Gemini Notebook.

Related answers

Sources

Keep a copy of everything you research

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