Set Up Your First Gemini Notebook

AI needs two things to work well:

1. Access to information
2. Guidance from you on what to do

Gemini just added a feature to help you with both.

What is a Gemini Notebook?

A notebook holds three things:

1. Sources you attach: files, Drive documents, websites, text you paste in, and past Gemini chats you pin to the notebook
2. Instructions that tell Gemini how to respond every time you use the notebook. (Think of this like a prompt automatically read at the start of each chat.)
3. Chats that pull in your sources and instructions automatically, and build up project memories across conversations as you go.

Without a notebook: you rebuild what AI knows and how AI acts every chat.

With a notebook: the sources and the standing instructions live with the project. Every new chat inside it starts with all of it already loaded (no re-pasting or re-framing).

Notebooks are currently available on Google AI Free, Plus, Pro, and Ultra plans. Non-US availability may be limited.

What about NotebookLM?

You may have heard of NotebookLM. It's Google's AI research tool that lets you drop in files, websites, and notes, then it turns them into an interactive knowledge base you can question, summarize, and generate artifacts from.

Notebooks in Gemini and notebooks in NotebookLM are connected. Anything you create in one shows up in the other.

Where they differ:

Gemini Notebooks: Good for open-ended project work like drafting, planning, and executing.

• Gemini brings live web search, image generation, Canvas (collaborative documents), and Deep Research (autonomous multi-source reports) into the chat alongside your sources.
• Source cap is around 100 documents on paid tiers.
• Reach for a Gemini Notebook when you have an ongoing project with tasks like strategizing, drafting, or general project support.

NotebookLM: Best for deep research and data synthesis.

• Source-grounded, meaning answers come from the documents and websites you've added to the notebook, with citations back to each one.
• Can handle hundreds of sources and turns them into audio overviews, video overviews, mind maps, study guides, flashcards, and quizzes.
• Reach for NotebookLM when you need to understand a high volume of files or find specific info within them.

Notebooks vs Gems

If you're a dedicated Gemini user, you may be thinking Notebooks sound a lot like Gems.

Both are built around you providing AI instructions and optionally attaching reference documents.

But there are a few important differences:

1. Memory
2. File access

• Gems: Don't remember details across chats and are limited to 10 attached files.

• Notebooks: Remember details across chats and you can sync 100+ sources.

When to reach for each:

• Gems: For routine tasks or specific instructions with limited variation. Examples: having AI act as a specific role like a "presentation reviewer," or running a task that doesn't change like a "status update formatter."
• Notebooks: When you have a more complex project that isn't one clear-cut task, or when you're trying to make sense of a large amount of information. Examples: an ongoing workspace like "spring campaign planning," or cross-document understanding like a "customer research assistant."

From here on out, each time you work on this project, open a new chat INSIDE this notebook.

As the project evolves, add new sources and refine your instructions.