How to use NotebookLM, now Gemini Notebook: a cited research notebook in six steps

Here is how to use NotebookLM, which Google renamed Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026: make a notebook, upload documents you already trust, ask narrow questions, and click every citation to check the quote. Free accounts get 50 sources per notebook, and limits now refresh every five hours instead of daily.

Every fact below comes from Google's own announcements and help pages, which we read on October 25, 2026. We did not run a hands-on test, so the example prompts are our suggestions, not tested results. Google says its limits may change, so open the page linked on each claim before you plan around a number.

NotebookLM and Gemini Notebook are the same product

Google's announcement says it is renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook and that it "remains a standalone product focused on being your premier research tool." The name changed, the product did not. On October 25, 2026, a request to notebooklm.google.com was redirected to notebook.google.com, and Google's help pages now say Gemini Notebook throughout.

Two things did change around the rename. Google said each notebook gets a secure cloud computer that can write and run code for data analysis, available at launch to Google AI Ultra users and some Workspace business customers, with all Pro users on the web to follow "over the coming weeks." We did not check whether it has reached your account. Notebooks can also be created in the Gemini app, with syncing both ways between the app and the standalone site.

Upfynd lists it as NotebookLM in Notes & Knowledge, and as of October 25, 2026, the directory has 1,227 products in AI Assistants.

How to use NotebookLM in six steps

1. Start one notebook per project

A notebook is "a collection of sources for a specific project," and each notebook is independent: Gemini Notebook "can't access information across multiple notebooks at the same time." In our view, that helps: a notebook holding only the documents for one decision cannot quote a stray file from another job.

Pick the single question first. In our view, "Should we renew this vendor contract?" produces a better notebook than "Everything about the vendor," because you know which documents belong in it.

2. Add sources, and know what will not import

Open the site, choose Create new notebook, then Upload a source. Google's sources page lists Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, PDFs, Word files, text and Markdown, CSV, PowerPoint, images, audio, web addresses, YouTube links and pasted text. Each source can hold up to 500,000 words or 200MB for uploaded files.

The catches are in the details, and these are the ones that change what you should upload:

On the Excel row: on October 25, 2026, we searched the page's raw text for "xlsx" and "Excel" and found neither. That says nothing about whether other parts of the product handle spreadsheets, only that this list does not name them. Google's chat page does list Excel among the file types the chat can create.

The free tier stops at 50 sources per notebook. Google's plans page shows the ceiling rising with the plan, in the column order of its table:

Sharing a notebook, the same page says, "does not change the source limit for any collaborator."

3. Ask narrow questions and name your sources

Google's own advice is to be specific. When a notebook has many sources, it retrieves the most relevant passages first and then writes the answer, so a vague question can miss the passage you wanted. The sources page gives the pattern: not "Summarize this source" but "What are the key findings about dog training in the 'Dog Training 101' document?"

You can also choose which sources a question may use: the chat page says you can select the sources the model should answer from. For a first pass, read the auto-generated summary of each source in the Source Guide, then ask three or four questions that each name a document.

If you see "Gemini Notebook can't answer this question," Google lists three causes: a safety flag, unclear phrasing, or information that is not in your sources. In our view the third is the useful one: it tells you the answer was not in what you uploaded, which beats an invented one.

4. Check every answer against its citation

Answers carry citations built from direct quotes in your sources. On the chat page, Google says to hover over a citation to see the full quote and select it to jump to the passage in context. Do this for any number, date or name you will repeat to someone else.

The same page warns that Gemini Notebook "can make mistakes and do unexpected things," and says to double check it. The about page adds: "Always consult a qualified professional for medical, legal, or financial advice."

In our view, the citation check is the whole point of the tool. A cited answer you did not open is no safer than an uncited one.

5. Turn good answers into something you can use

Under Configure Chat you can choose a Default, Learning Guide or Custom style and a response length. When an answer is worth keeping, select Save to note: the original format, including tables and clickable citations, is saved.

The Studio panel produces reports, with a briefing document, FAQ or study guide as options, plus Data Tables, flashcards, quizzes, slide decks, infographics, mind maps and Audio Overviews. Two exports are worth knowing:

• A report exports to Google Docs from its three-dots menu.
• A Data Table exports to Google Sheets, with the data on the first tab and the citations on the second.

Edits you make in an exported file do not sync back to the notebook, and sharing permissions do not carry over to it. Select View custom prompt on an output to see the instruction that produced it.

For meeting prep, our suggested recipe is one notebook with the agenda, last meeting's notes and the documents you will discuss, then a prompt such as "List every open question about pricing, citing the document each comes from." Treat the result as a reading list, not a briefing, until you have opened the citations.

6. Watch the usage limit, not the daily count

Google's earlier limits were daily. Its August 28 announcement replaced them with compute-specific limits that refresh every five hours, starting on consumer accounts on September 2. Your overall limit "will factor in prompt complexity, chat length, number of sources, and the features you use."

Google's usage-limits page says the quota refreshes every five hours "until you reach your weekly limit." Without a plan you get standard limits; AI Plus is two times higher, AI Pro four times higher, and AI Ultra "5x or 20x higher than AI Pro." On the page we read, we found no per-day chat count.

Check what you have left under Settings, then Usage. When you run out, outputs such as a Video Overview or Slide Deck can be deferred: on the web, select Generate later, which Google says "may take a couple hours." In our view, a long chat over many large sources will spend more of your limit than a short one, because Google lists chat length and source count among the factors.

Is NotebookLM free, and does it train on your files?

Yes to the first: Google's plans page says to "sign up free of charge by using your gmail account" for the Standard plan. On data, the about page says: "Your data is protected, and is not used to train Gemini Notebook unless you provide feedback." If you send feedback, Google "may review the full context of that interaction, including your queries, uploads, and the model's responses."

For work or school Workspace accounts, the same page says uploads, queries and responses "will not be reviewed by human reviewers" and "will not be used to train AI models."

That is Google's wording on October 25, 2026, and such terms change. This is not legal advice. If a file is covered by a client contract, a privacy law or an employer policy, read the current terms and your own rules before uploading, and take advice where real money or a regulator is involved. Our rule of thumb: if you could not paste it into any other online service, do not upload it here.

When to use a different tool

A notebook answers from the files you give it. Google says chat responses "only use data from your sources," so a creative request such as rewriting your short story may be refused. The same page describes newer agentic features, such as searching the web, that Google labels experimental.

For open web questions, Perplexity is listed on Upfynd as an AI answer engine that cites live web search. For drafting from scratch, a general assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT fits better in our view. If you want a reference list that you manage yourself, Zotero is a free research manager. We have not compared how these handle your files, so read each one's own terms first.

Your next step is small. Pick one real decision, upload three or four documents, ask two questions that each name a file, and open every citation before you repeat a single number.