How to create your second brain with NotebookLM

A notebook is the space where you’ll organize a specific topic: a project, a course, a book, a research project.

1. Go to https://notebooklm.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
2. Click “New notebook”.
3. Give it a descriptive name: “Grad thesis”, “Marketing 2026”, “The art of learning” or whatever topic you’re working on.
4. NotebookLM opens your empty notebook, ready for you to add sources.

On the free plan you can have up to 100 notebooks. More than enough to get started.

“Sources” are the materials NotebookLM uses to answer your questions. The AI only uses what you uploaded, which is why the answers are reliable and cited.

1. In the left panel, click “Add source”.
2. Choose the file type:
   • PDF: books, articles, reports.
   • Google Docs / Google Slides: your own Drive documents.
   • URL: blog article, documentation page.
   • YouTube: a video or conference (NotebookLM automatically transcribes the audio).
   • Audio: recordings of meetings, classes or podcasts.
3. Upload or paste the link. NotebookLM processes the content in a few seconds.
4. Repeat with all the sources you want (up to 50 per notebook on the free plan).

Tip: start with 3 to 5 relevant sources. You can add more later.

Now comes the part that changes how you study or work: you can ask your documents questions in natural language, as if talking to an assistant who read everything.

1. In the right panel, you’ll see the chat. Type your question: “What are the main points of this book?”, “What does the report say about marketing costs?” or “Explain chapter 3 in simple words”.
2. NotebookLM answers based only on your sources and adds citations with the fragment number (you can click to go to the original text).
3. You can ask follow-up questions: “Give me a concrete example” or “Is there anything that contradicts that in the other sources?”.

Useful starter questions:

• “Summarize the main ideas in 5 points”
• “What are the arguments for and against according to these documents?”
• “What technical terms appear and what do they mean?”
• “Which sections are most relevant for [your specific goal]?”

On the free plan you get 50 questions per day. More than enough for intensive work sessions.

NotebookLM doesn’t just answer questions: it has automatic tools to transform your materials into formats ready for studying or presenting.

1. In the right panel, look for the “Notebook guide” section (it may appear as a button or tab).
2. Choose the format you need:
   • Study guide: structured summary with key concepts.
   • Briefing doc: short version of the main ideas.
   • FAQ: questions and answers based on the content.
   • Timeline: a timeline if your documents include historical events.
   • Flashcards: study cards (question and answer) for memorizing concepts.
3. NotebookLM generates the document in seconds. You can copy it or save it as a note.

These formats are free on all plans. They’re perfect for preparing for exams or presentations.

Want to learn more ways to summarize long texts with AI? Check out How to summarize long texts with ChatGPT.

This is NotebookLM’s most surprising feature: it turns your documents into a two-voice podcast that discusses and explains the content, as if two radio hosts had read everything for you.

1. In the “Audio Overview” section, click “Generate”.
2. NotebookLM processes your sources and creates a 10 to 20 minute audio (time varies depending on the volume of material).
3. Listen to the podcast directly in the browser or download it as an MP3.
4. You can also choose the audio format:
   • Deep Dive: deep conversation between two voices.
   • Brief: short and direct summary.
   • Critique: critical analysis of the content.
   • Debate: two opposing positions on the topic.

This feature is free. The audio defaults to English in many regions, but you can ask the assistant to generate the content in Spanish before creating the audio.

Practical uses:

• Listen to a book summary while you exercise.
• Review your notes before an exam on the way to class.
• Turn a long report into an audio to share with your team.

A useful second brain is an organized one. Here’s how to structure it so you find what you need in seconds:

Recommended structure:

• One notebook per project or knowledge area: “Work”, “Study”, “Health”, “Personal Finance”.
• Within each notebook, group related sources. Don’t mix very different topics in the same notebook.
• Name your notebooks clearly: “Marketing Q3 2026” is better than “Work stuff”.

To search within your notebooks:

• Use the chat to ask about a specific concept.
• NotebookLM tells you exactly which source and which fragment contains the information.

To collaborate:

• You can share a notebook with other people to work as a team on the same materials.

Want to learn how to search for research articles with AI to feed your second brain? Check out the tutorial How to search for scientific articles with artificial intelligence.

Problem	Fix
I can’t upload a PDF	Check the file is under 200 MB and not password-protected
NotebookLM doesn’t understand my question	Rephrase with more context: “According to document X, what does it say about Y?”
Audio Overview is in English	Ask in the chat to generate the content in Spanish before creating the audio
I’ve reached the 50 questions/day limit	Wait until tomorrow or consider the Google AI Pro plan ($19.99/mo)
I can’t add more sources to the notebook	Make sure you have fewer than 50 sources; if not, create a new notebook for that topic