Generate study guides and summaries with Notebook Guide

Notebook Guide auto-generates summaries, FAQs, study guides, timelines, and briefing docs from your NotebookLM sources with one click.

Notebook Guide is a panel in NotebookLM that generates structured documents from your uploaded sources. Rather than manually reading through everything and taking notes, you can use Notebook Guide to produce a summary, FAQ, study guide, or other formatted output in seconds—all drawn directly from your sources.

How to open Notebook Guide

Click the Notebook Guide button or tab in the right side of your notebook. The panel opens alongside your sources and chat.

Available output types

Each output type produces a different kind of structured document. Click the type you want and NotebookLM generates it immediately.

Summary

A concise overview of all the sources in your notebook. Useful for quickly understanding the scope and main ideas of your material before diving deeper. Generate a summary when you’ve just added new sources and want a high-level orientation.

FAQ

A set of frequently asked questions and answers drawn from your sources. NotebookLM identifies topics likely to raise questions and provides answers grounded in your material. Useful for anticipating what readers or students might ask.

Study Guide

A structured guide covering key concepts, definitions, and practice questions based on your sources. Well-suited for exam preparation or reviewing material after an initial read-through.

Table of Contents

An outline of the topics covered across all your sources. Helpful for understanding the overall structure of your material and finding where specific subjects are discussed.

Timeline

A chronological list of events extracted from your sources. Most useful when your sources contain historical content, case studies, or narratives with time-based progression.

Briefing Doc

An executive-style summary of the key points across your sources, structured for quick reading. Suitable for sharing before a meeting, presentation, or decision-making session.

Generate a Briefing Doc before a meeting or presentation to get a concise overview of your sources that you can share with others or use as speaking notes.

Generate an output

Click the button for the output type you want. NotebookLM processes your sources and returns the generated document within a few seconds. Longer or more numerous sources may take slightly longer.

Copy or save the output

Once the output appears, click Copy to copy the full text to your clipboard. You can then paste it into Google Docs, a notes app, or any other document editor.

Regenerate for a new version

Click the same output type again to regenerate it. Each generation may produce a slightly different result. There’s no limit on how many times you can regenerate.

All Notebook Guide outputs are based solely on the sources you’ve added to your notebook. Always review the generated content against your sources before using it in professional or academic work.

Related

Audio Overview

Turn your sources into a podcast-style audio discussion.

Chat

Ask specific questions about your sources and get cited answers.

Managing sources

Add, remove, and organize the sources in your notebook.

Study guide workflow

A step-by-step guide for using NotebookLM to study effectively.