Google's AI-powered note-taking tool NotebookLM continues to evolve with new capabilities, though some key features remain on users' wishlists. The platform, which transitioned from experimental status to a full product with both free and business tiers, is becoming increasingly valuable for students, researchers, and professionals who need to organize and analyze information.
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| An overview of the NotebookLM interface, showcasing its user-friendly design for research and note-taking |
New Discover Sources Feature Streamlines Research
Google has just rolled out a significant update to NotebookLM that addresses one of the platform's previous limitations. Starting April 2, 2025, the new Discover sources feature allows users to automatically find relevant web sources for their projects instead of manually searching and uploading them. When users click the new button and describe their topic, NotebookLM leverages Google AI and Gemini to scan the web, analyze hundreds of potential sources, and present up to ten recommendations with annotated summaries explaining their relevance. Users can select which sources to include in their notebook with a simple checkbox, making the research process substantially more efficient.
Integration With Existing NotebookLM Tools
The newly discovered sources aren't just standalone references—they're fully integrated with NotebookLM's existing features. Users can incorporate these web sources into Briefing Docs, FAQs, and the popular Audio Overviews feature. The sources remain available for reading, note-taking, and citation purposes, and users can engage with the chatbot to discuss the content. Google has also added an I'm feeling curious button that generates sources on random topics, similar to Google Search's famous I'm feeling lucky function.
User Wishlist: Better Organization Features
Despite these improvements, NotebookLM still lacks robust organizational capabilities. As users create more notebooks—especially students who might create dozens per semester—the current system becomes unwieldy. There's no way to group notebooks into folders or subfolders, no tagging system, and no search function to quickly locate specific notebooks. Users are limited to sorting by Most Recent, Title, or Shared With Me, which becomes increasingly insufficient as their collection grows.
Missing Document Viewing Capabilities
Another pain point for users is the inability to view original documents within NotebookLM. When uploading PDFs or lecture slides, the platform only displays extracted text, losing important visual elements like diagrams and code snippets. This forces users to keep their sources open in separate applications, creating a disjointed workflow. Additionally, NotebookLM doesn't currently support PowerPoint files (.pptx), requiring users to convert them to PDFs first.
The Need for a Dedicated App
Despite approaching its two-year anniversary and introducing a business tier, NotebookLM remains accessible only through web browsers. Many users, particularly those on tablets like iPads, find this limiting. The lack of a dedicated mobile or desktop application means the tool is entirely dependent on an internet connection and doesn't offer the seamless experience users expect from modern productivity tools. This limitation particularly affects the Audio Overview feature, which can be problematic to generate on certain devices.
Audio Overview Transcripts Still Missing
The Audio Overview feature—which creates AI-generated podcasts based on user sources—has become one of NotebookLM's most popular functions. However, users have been requesting transcripts to accompany these audio files, allowing them to skim content, read along while listening, or quickly locate specific information without scrubbing through recordings. Despite adding interactive capabilities to the podcasts, Google has yet to implement this seemingly straightforward feature.
Looking Ahead
Google describes the new Discover sources feature as the first of a series of NotebookLM features that uses the power of Gemini to find and collect relevant sources for your notebook, suggesting more improvements are on the way. While NotebookLM has made significant strides in becoming a powerful research and study tool, addressing these user-requested features could help it reach its full potential as a comprehensive productivity solution.