Get more out of NotebookLM
Copy-paste prompts that beat “summarize”, trusted sources you can import in one click, and the tools the community actually uses. Works the same now that NotebookLM is Gemini Notebook.
- prompts
- 29
- prompts
- sources
- 26
- sources
- tools
- 5
- tools
Featured prompts
One strong prompt per job — copy and go.
- 1Structured synthesis with rules
The heavyweight. A research-grade answer with explicit rules, so the model can't paper over gaps or drift outside the sources.
Deep analysisChat - 2Build a topic index first
Run this before anything else on messy material — transcripts, mixed PDFs, scattered notes. The index becomes the map for every later question.
Deep analysisChat - 3The focused brief
Kills the warm-up minute and the both-sides framing. The single most repeated community fix for Audio Overviews.
Audio OverviewsAudio Overview - 4Citation-forcing instruction
Set once per notebook. Every answer arrives pre-wired for verification, and “not in the sources” replaces confident guessing.
Source prep & accuracyChat settings - 5Exam question generator
Twenty questions across three difficulty tiers, with answers kept at the end so you can actually test yourself.
Study & exam prepChat - 6Decision memo from transcripts
The after-meeting artifact that meetings never produce themselves: decisions, owners, deadlines, contradictions.
Work & writingChat
Browse by category
Deep analysis
“Summarize” is the weakest thing you can ask. These prompts make NotebookLM index, explain, compare and argue instead of compressing.
OpenStudy & exam prep
Retrieval practice beats re-reading. These prompts turn sources into questions, checks and explanations instead of more text to skim.
OpenAudio Overviews
The default podcast spends its first minute on framing and stays generic. The customize field fixes that — these go in the Audio Overview prompt box.
OpenSlides & infographics
The generators default to decorated. A style specification in the prompt box gets you something you'd actually present.
OpenSource prep & accuracy
Most hallucinations are preventable before you ask anything. How you load and instruct the notebook matters more than any single question.
OpenWork & writing
Meeting transcripts, research piles and findings decks — turned into documents someone can act on.
OpenFrom the community
Prompts shared by r/notebooklm members that the community voted up — reproduced with credit and a link to the original thread.
OpenTrusted sources
Copy a link, paste it into Add source.
- Google Scholar
scholar.google.com
- arXiv
arxiv.org
- Semantic Scholar
semanticscholar.org
- PubMed Central
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc
- SSRN
ssrn.com
Community tools
Import, organize and prompt better.
YouTube to NotebookLM
Send entire channels, playlists or search results into a notebook in one click instead of pasting videos one at a time.
Folders for NotebookLM
Adds folder organization to the notebook list — built by a community developer who got tired of waiting for the official feature.
EPUB to TXT converter
Converts ebooks into clean plain text for upload — still useful for EPUBs that import poorly.
Academic Prompt Lab
A prompt generator covering twenty analysis types — gap analysis, thematic coding, Feynman technique — with a rigor toggle.
Everything here is curated from what the NotebookLM community — 29 prompts, 26 sources, 5 tools — actually finds useful, and rewritten for clarity. Found something that belongs here? Share it in r/notebooklm.