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

Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026. The product works the same way, and existing notebooks and links still work.

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

• Listen to a PDF instead of reading it
• Review study material on the go
• Get a quick overview of long reports
• Hear different angles on the same document

Listen to understand. Read to verify.

• Create a new notebook
• Add your PDF as a source
• Add related sources if you want a broader conversation
• Check that the text was read correctly

The free plan allows 100 notebooks and 50 sources per notebook. Google AI Pro raises these limits.

Audio Overviews offer different styles, such as a deep-dive conversation, a short brief, a critique, or a debate, and shorter or longer lengths. Options can change, so check what your notebook shows.

Before generating, tell the hosts what to focus on:

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

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

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

• Research papers
• Long reports
• Course readings
• Product manuals
• Your own notes and drafts
• Meeting documents before a meeting

Audio Overviews can be generated in many languages. Change the output language in your settings to hear a document in the language you prefer.

• Share a notebook link with people who should see the source
• Do not share notebooks containing private or confidential documents
• Remember the hosts are AI, and can make mistakes

• Upload only documents you have the right to use
• Do not publish Audio Overviews of copyrighted books or paid reports
• Use business plans for company documents
• Verify any fact before you rely on it

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