How to Turn Any PDF into a Podcast with NotebookLM (Now Gemini Notebook)

On July 16, 2026, Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. Nothing about how it works has changed, and existing notebooks and links still open.

Its Audio Overviews turn your sources into a podcast-style conversation between AI hosts. With them you can:

• Listen to a PDF rather than read it
• Review study material on the move
• Get a fast overview of long reports
• Hear fresh angles on the same document

Listen to understand. Read to verify.

• Create a new notebook
• Add the PDF as a source
• Add related sources for a broader conversation
• Confirm the text was read correctly

The free plan allows 100 notebooks, with 50 sources in each. Google AI Pro lifts these limits.

Audio Overviews come in several styles, such as a deep-dive conversation, a short brief, a critique, or a debate, in shorter or longer lengths. Options can change, so check what your notebook offers.

Before you generate, tell the hosts where to focus:

Focus on the practical recommendations in chapters 3 and 4, explain key terms in plain language for beginners, and skip the methodology.

• Play it in the browser or the mobile app
• Use interactive mode, where available, to put a question to the hosts
• Download the audio for offline listening

• Generate a study guide from the same PDF
• Question the notebook after listening
• Check key points against the original pages
• Quiz yourself the following day

• Research papers
• Long reports
• Course readings
• Product manuals
• Your own notes and drafts
• Meeting documents, ahead of the meeting

You can generate Audio Overviews in many languages. Change the output language in settings to hear a document in the language you prefer.

• Share notebook links only with people who should see the source
• Never share notebooks that hold private or confidential documents
• Remember that the hosts are AI and can get things wrong

• Upload only documents you have the rights to
• Never publish Audio Overviews of copyrighted books or paid reports
• Put company documents on business plans
• Verify any fact before relying on it

• Treating the audio as a flawless summary
• Uploading scanned PDFs without checking the text
• Skipping customization
• Sharing confidential notebooks