Notebook LM Overview

+ Add button

NotebookLM supports the following source types:

• PDF files
• Google Docs
• Google Slides
• Website Links

• Youtube Videos
• Copied Text
• MP3 Audio Files

Interactive Mode

Interactive Mode in Studio turns your source materials into a dynamic, quiz-like conversation. Think of it as a smart tutor that engages users with questions, answers, and follow-up discussion—all based strictly on the sources you provide.

• For best results, use well-organized, content-rich sources (e.g., lesson handouts, textbook excerpts, policy docs).
• Encourage students to try asking their own questions—NotebookLM stays grounded in the source(s) and won’t make things up.

Discover Sources

In addition to your own sources, you can also ask Notebook to conduct a Google Search for more sources. These sources are not vetted for quality, but if you are conducting research about a topic, they can be an additional avenue of context for your notebook to pull from.

Mind Maps

Mind Maps create a visual web of concepts covered in the sources including concepts and vocabulary. Clicking on a concept or term in the mind map will expand it to show further related topics. You can also direclty ask the chat to explain the concept or term by clicking on it. In the mind map view, you can download a PNG copy of the mind map by clicking the save button in the top right.

Chat box

The chat box a the center bottom of the screen lets you talk to the chatbot about your sources. Below the chatbox, NotebookLM will generate some suggested questions to get you started, but you can ask it anything about the sources you have provided.

Notes

The Notes section in Studio helps you capture and organize important ideas, summaries, or insights generated from your chats and sources.

• Quickly save summaries, explanations, or definitions for later use.
• Build lesson content, study guides, or staff briefing materials over time.

🛠️ How It Works:

1. When you have a useful chat response, click “Save to Notes” right below the answer.
2. Head to the Studio tab, then click on Notes to view, edit, or copy your saved entries.

Audio Overview

The Audio Overview tool lets you instantly generate podcasts based on your uploaded sources or notes.

• 50+ Languages Available: Generate a podcast in most languages —great for multilingual families and EL support.
• Built from Trusted Sources: The audio summary is directly based on your uploaded sources or saved chats
• Use Chat Notes to fine-tune what you want the podcast to focus on—especially helpful if your source file is long or covers multiple topics.

Chat Tab

The Chat tab contains a window similar to other AI chatbots where you can ask questions, request resources, or prompt for feedback. NotebookLM will cite the sources for the information in it's answers by placing a number throughout the answer. Clicking on the number will show where in a source the information comes from.

Save to Note

Unlike many other AI chatbots, NotebookLM does not automatically save your conversations. If you want to retrieve a response later, click the Save to Note button and the response will appear in the Notes Section of the Studio Tab.Refreshing the page will clear the Chat Tab. Saved notes will be visible for everyone who has access to the Notebook.

Source Summary

Clicking on a source in the Sources tab will show a summary of the information from that source along with some key terms or sections from that source. Using these summaries can be helpful to quickly understand the information contained in a source file.

Settings

NotebookLM allows you to change the output language in order to generate summaries, podcasts, and interactive content in over 50 languages.

🛠️How to Use:

1. Go to the Settings menu ⚙️
2. Locate the Output Language dropdown
3. Select your desired language.
4. Click “Generate” for a translated version of your summary, podcast, or interactive module.

You don’t need to upload files in different languages—NotebookLM translates your English source content into the selected output language..

Studio

The Studio tab in NotebookLM is your AI-powered workspace where you can turn source materials and chat interactions into ready-to-use educational tools, including:

• Podcasts: Convert information into audio form
• Interactive Mode: Engage with content in a simulated conversation
• Study Guides: Generate source-based study aids for students or staff.

• Notes: Save key takeaways and curated insights from chats for easy reuse.

Use Studio to extend the life and purpose of your sources!

Sources Tab

• Each Notebook can house up to 50 sources
• The Notebook will only use information contained in the sources you provide it.
• Sources can be toggled on and off using the checkmarks. This can be useful if you wanted to:
• request feedback for multiple writing samples
• compare different versions of a file
• upload an entire unit, but only use the materials covered so far when building a mid-unit assessment.