How to Create Your First NotebookLM Notebook

Set up a NotebookLM notebook, add your sources, and start asking grounded questions that cite the exact passages they came from.

7 minBeginner

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NotebookLM is a research tool built on Gemini that only answers from the documents you give it. That grounding means every answer comes with citations back to your sources, which makes it far safer for study notes, contracts, or research than a general chatbot. This guide creates a notebook from scratch.

What you need

A Google account at notebooklm.google.com
A few source files: PDFs, Google Docs, pasted text, or website URLs
Roughly 10 minutes

Step 1: Create the notebook

Open notebooklm.google.com and click New notebook. A notebook is just a container that holds your sources plus the chat that runs over them. You can have many notebooks, one per project or topic.

NotebookLM - empty notebook

Sources | Chat | Studio

---------------------------------------------------------------

[ + Add source ] | Add a source to get | Audio Overview

| started. | Study guide

(0 sources) | | FAQ / Timeline

Sources panel on the left, chat in the middle, Studio on the right.

Step 2: Add your sources

Click Add source and pick how to bring content in. NotebookLM accepts PDF and text uploads, Google Docs and Slides, copied text, and website or YouTube URLs. Add several related sources so the notebook can cross-reference them.

Upload: drag PDFs or .txt files straight in
Google Drive: pick Docs and Slides without downloading them first
Link: paste a webpage or YouTube URL
Paste text: drop in copied notes or an article body

Step 3: Wait for indexing, then ask

Once a source shows a checkmark it has been read. Type a question in the chat box. NotebookLM answers only from the selected sources and adds small numbered citations you can click to jump to the exact passage.

NotebookLM - grounded answer

You

What are the three deadlines mentioned across these documents?

Agent

The documents list three deadlines: the draft on March 3 [1], review by March 17 [2], and final signoff April 1 [3].

Each claim links back to the source passage that backs it.

Use the source checkboxes

Each source has a checkbox. Untick the ones you do not want in scope for a given question so the answer stays focused on, say, one contract instead of all five.

Result

You now have a notebook that answers questions only from your own material, with citations you can verify in one click. From here you can generate a study guide, an FAQ, or an Audio Overview from the Studio panel, all grounded in the same sources.