If your research process usually involves 27 open tabs and a mild existential crisis, Google’s NotebookLM might be your new favorite tool.

It’s an AI-powered note-taker that not only helps organize your thoughts but also pulls in web sources, summarizes them, and turns them into something actually useful.

Find out how to use it farther below.

The NotebookLM upgrade can actually go out and grab web sources for you — no need to upload PDFs, docs, or random YouTube links anymore.

Just hit the new “Discover” button, type in whatever topic you’re curious about, and the AI takes it from there, pulling together solid stuff from around the web.

Google says the feature is rolling out and should hit everyone in the next few days. You might already have it.

What’s happening in the background is kind of wild: NotebookLM sifts through a ton of potential sources in seconds, picks out up to ten that make sense, and gives you a little rundown on why they’re useful.

You get to pick which ones you want to keep, and from there, you can plug them into things like Briefing Docs, FAQs, or even those AI-hosted Audio Overviews that feel a little like podcast recaps.

Everything you save sticks around in your NotebookLM library, so you’ve always got it on hand for reference, citations, or just to help answer questions later.

Google’s calling this the first of a bunch of updates powered by Gemini to make the whole tool more discovery-friendly.

A simple step-by-step guide for using Google’s NotebookLM without getting lost in tabs:

1. Go to notebooklm.google.com and sign in with your Google account.

    

2. Start a new notebook by clicking “+ New Notebook” on the main screen.

    

3. Give your notebook a name that matches the topic you want to research or take notes on.

    

4. Click the “Discover” button to start finding sources directly from the web.

    

5. Type in a topic or question you’re curious about and hit enter.

    

6. Browse through the recommended sources that pop up—each one comes with a short summary.

7. Select the sources you like and import them into your notebook.

    

8. Use NotebookLM’s tools to create summaries, FAQs, or even Audio Overviews based on your chosen content.

    

9. Ask the AI questions about your sources right inside the notebook to get quick, focused answers.

    

10. Revisit your notebook anytime to add more sources, take new notes, or pull quotes and citations when you need them.