You’ve spent hours uploading research papers to NotebookLM, generated Audio and Video Overviews, created flashcards and quizzes, and built detailed notes—now you need to save it all. NotebookLM has evolved dramatically in 2025, adding exportable slide decks, infographics, video overviews, and finally solving the chat persistence problem that frustrated early users.
This guide covers everything you can export from NotebookLM, from the flagship Audio Overviews to the new AI-generated presentations, plus strategies for preserving work when export buttons don’t exist.
Quick Reference: Export Options at a Glance
NotebookLM Export Guide
Downloading Audio Overviews
Audio Overviews remain NotebookLM’s signature export. These AI-generated podcast-style conversations synthesize your notebook into engaging discussions between two AI hosts.
How to download: Generate your Audio Overview in the Studio panel (takes a few minutes), click the three-dot “More” menu, select “Download.” Files save as WAV format (uncompressed)—not MP3. WAV works with every media player and maintains quality.
Duration options:
- Shorter: ~5+ minutes
- Default: ~10+ minutes
- Longer: ~20+ minutes (max ~30 minutes observed)
Customize length before generation through the “Customize” option in Studio.
Generation limits:
- Free: 3 Audio Overviews per day
- NotebookLM Plus ($19.99/month): 15 per day (5x more)
Plus also increases notebook limits from 100 to 500 total and sources per notebook from 50 to 300.
Audio files save permanently within notebooks until deleted. Use “Load” in Studio to reload previous overviews. Deleting audio breaks public share links; deleting notebooks removes all associated overviews.
Language support: 50+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Arabic, Hebrew. Select via Settings → Output Language.
Interactive Mode (English only): Real-time conversations with AI hosts during playback. Voice interactions don’t save and don’t transfer to downloaded files—only works during live sessions.
Mobile App Audio Downloads
If you’re using the NotebookLM mobile app and wondering where your downloaded audio went—here’s the catch. The app’s download feature only saves audio for offline listening within the app itself. You can’t extract those files to share, edit, or use elsewhere.
To get an actual audio file you can keep:
- Option 1: Open NotebookLM in your phone’s browser (not the app) at notebooklm.google.com, generate or load your Audio Overview, and download from there. The file saves to your phone’s Downloads folder.
- Option 2: Switch to desktop. This is the most reliable method—download the WAV file, then transfer to your phone via cloud storage or email if you need it mobile.
The mobile app works great for listening on the go, but think of it like Spotify—streaming access, not file ownership.
Converting WAV to MP3
NotebookLM exports WAV (uncompressed), but MP3 (compressed) offers smaller files and broader compatibility.
Tools: Audacity (free—File → Export as MP3), Adobe Audition (professional quality), online converters (CloudConvert, Zamzar), ffmpeg (batch processing).
MP3 reduces file size 90% (50MB WAV → 5MB MP3) with minimal speech quality loss. Useful for email sharing or podcast platforms.
Downloading Video Overviews
Video Overviews launched in mid-2025 and received a major upgrade with Google’s Nano Banana image generation model. These transform your sources into AI-narrated slide presentations with custom visuals, diagrams, quotes, and data pulled directly from your documents.
How to download: In the Studio panel, select “Video Overview” to generate. Click the three-dot menu next to your generated video, select “Download.” Videos can also be shared via link or presented in full-screen slideshow mode directly in NotebookLM.
Two format options:
- Explainer: Structured, comprehensive video for in-depth understanding
- Brief: Bite-sized format (~60-90 seconds) for quickly grasping core ideas
Visual styles (18+ users only):
- Classic
- Whiteboard
- Kawaii
- Anime
- Watercolor
- Retro Print
- Heritage
- Paper-craft
- Custom (describe your own style)
Customization options: You can specify topics to focus on, indicate learning goals, describe target audience, and add steering prompts like “Focus only on the cost analysis sections” or “I’m already an expert on X; focus on Z.”
Language support: Video Overviews support 80+ languages for narration.
Important limitation: Video Overviews are not currently available in the mobile app—desktop/web only.
Exporting Slide Decks (New in Late 2025)
One of NotebookLM’s most powerful new features: generate complete, polished presentations directly from your sources. The slides include infographics, charts, Venn diagrams, and visuals that actually add context rather than feeling generic.
How to export: In the Studio panel, select “Slide Deck” to generate. Use the three-dot menu to download as PDF, share, or present in full-screen slideshow mode.
Two deck types:
- Presenter Deck: Clean slides optimized for live presentations with speaker notes
- Detailed Deck: Comprehensive slides with full text and details, perfect for emailing or reading standalone
Customization options:
- Format (presenter vs. detailed)
- Length
- Target audience (beginners vs. experts, executives vs. operational teams, students vs. professors)
- Custom instructions to guide content focus
Export format: PDF. You can then open in PowerPoint or Google Slides for further editing.
Availability: Fully rolled out to Plus users; rolling out to free users over coming weeks.
Exporting Infographics (New in Late 2025)
Turn complex information from your sources into single, engaging visual summaries. NotebookLM automatically handles information hierarchy, typography, and text-to-graphics balance.
How to export: In the Studio panel, select “Infographic” to generate. Use the three-dot menu to download as PNG, share, or rename.
Customization options:
- Output language
- Orientation (portrait, landscape, square)
- Level of detail
- Custom instructions
Export format: PNG image file. Can be opened in design tools like Canva for final adjustments.
Availability: Fully rolled out to Plus users; rolling out to free users over coming weeks.
Exporting Flashcards and Quizzes (New in September 2025)
NotebookLM now generates study aids grounded entirely in your uploaded sources—no external information mixed in.
Flashcards: Click “Flashcards” in the Studio panel. Customize topic, difficulty level, and number of cards. Share study sets with friends or colleagues via simple link.
Quizzes: Click “Quiz” in the Studio panel. Generates ~10 questions with answers from your sources. Customize topic and difficulty.
Export limitation: No direct download—share via link or copy/paste content manually.
Exporting Mind Maps
Mind Maps visualize connections between concepts in your sources. This is one of the few non-audio/video content types with a direct download button.
How to export: Generate Mind Map in Studio panel, click the Download icon (top-right) to export as image.
Works on: Both Free and Plus tiers.
Exporting Reports (Study Guides, Briefing Docs, and More)
NotebookLM’s redesigned Reports feature now offers multiple formats with dynamic suggestions based on your sources.
Available formats:
- Briefing Doc: Executive summary style
- Study Guide: Learning-focused with key concepts
- Blog Post: Ready-to-publish format (new)
- Custom: Define your own format and requirements
Dynamic suggestions: Upload a scholarly article and NotebookLM might suggest a glossary of key terms; upload a short story draft and it might suggest character analysis or plot critique.
Export limitation: No direct download button—copy text and paste into Google Docs or other applications.
Chat History and Notes
Chat Now Persists (Major 2025 Update)
This is a significant change from earlier versions. NotebookLM chat conversations are now automatically saved. You can close a session and resume later without losing your conversation history. You can delete chat history at any time, and in shared notebooks, your chat is visible only to you.
Additional chat improvements:
- 8x larger context window
- 6x longer conversation memory
- 50% improvement in response quality
- Conversation goals (study, meeting prep, marketing copy, etc.)
- Response length control (short, medium, long)
- Refresh chat option to clear history when you want a fresh start
Saving Notes
NotebookLM still doesn’t export notes or complete notebooks natively. Manual workarounds remain necessary:
Copy individual notes: Copy-paste each note into Google Docs or text editors, then export from those apps.
Convert notes to source: “Convert all notes to source” creates a consolidated file from all notes. Centralizes content but loses individual note structure.
Pin important chat responses: Even with persistent chat, pinning key insights to Notes provides better long-term organization.
Studio Panel Overview
NotebookLM Studio Panel
Managing Sources and Organization
How Sources Work
NotebookLM takes static snapshots of documents—no live connections to originals. Changes to source files don’t automatically update.
Supported sources:
- Google Drive (Docs/Slides/Sheets)
- PDFs (up to 200MB, including images and graphs with multimodal understanding)
- Microsoft Word documents (.docx) – new in 2025
- Text/Markdown files
- Web URLs (text only)
- YouTube videos (public with captions)
- Audio files (MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC)
- Images (new in 2025)
- Copy/paste text (up to 900,000 characters)
Limits:
- Free: 50 sources per notebook (500,000 words or 200MB each)
- Plus/Enterprise: 300 sources per notebook
Discover Sources (New): Find related sources from the web based on your topic. Add them directly to notebooks to expand research.
Manual syncing: When Drive files update, click “Click to sync with Google Drive” in Sources panel. NotebookLM creates new snapshots.
Deep Research (New in November 2025)
Deep Research acts like a dedicated researcher, automatically searching the web and generating comprehensive reports with citations.
How it works: Describe your research topic, and Deep Research analyzes hundreds of sources (vs. ~7 with quick search), synthesizes findings, and creates structured documents with proper citations.
Export: Deep Research reports can be added directly to your notebook as a source, then exported via the standard methods (copy to Docs, generate slides/video from it, etc.).
Use case: Search “How the TikTok algorithm works” and get 30+ sources plus a full report—then generate slides, infographics, or video from that research base.
Notebook Sharing
Three modes: Private (creator only), Shared with specific users (Editor or Viewer permissions), Public sharing (Full Notebook or Chat Only access—consumer accounts only).
Workspace Enterprise/Education accounts cannot share publicly.
Plus/Enterprise features: Chat-only sharing, notebook analytics (daily access and query counts), enhanced team collaboration.
Custom Personas and Goals (New in October 2025)
You can now shape NotebookLM’s AI into exactly the assistant you need.
Custom personas: Define how NotebookLM should behave—as a teacher, game master, marketing assistant, etc. Character limit increased from 500 to 5,000 characters.
Conversation goals: Set the intent (study for school, prepare for meeting, generate marketing copy) and NotebookLM tailors responses accordingly.
Real Workflow Examples
Workflow 1: Research → Presentation (Full Pipeline)
Goal: Turn uploaded research into a complete presentation with supporting materials.
Steps:
- Create notebook, upload sources (PDFs, docs, web links, YouTube lectures)
- Use Deep Research to expand with additional web sources
- Generate Briefing Doc to understand key themes
- Create Slide Deck (Detailed format) for distribution
- Generate Infographic for social media sharing
- Create Audio Overview for stakeholders who prefer listening
- Download all assets: Slides as PDF, Infographic as PNG, Audio as WAV
Why this works: One research session produces multiple exportable formats for different audiences and platforms.
Workflow 2: Academic Study Session
Goal: Prepare for exam using active recall methods.
Steps:
- Upload lecture notes, textbook chapters, supplementary readings
- Generate Study Guide for overview
- Create Flashcards for key terms (customize difficulty)
- Generate Quiz to test understanding
- Create Audio Overview (~20 min) for commute listening
- Generate Video Overview for visual concepts
- Create Mind Map for relationship visualization
- Download Audio, export Mind Map as image, share Flashcards link with study group
Why this works: Multiple learning modalities reinforce retention. Flashcards and quizzes enable active recall.
Workflow 3: Meeting Recording → Team Knowledge
Goal: Convert meeting recordings into searchable knowledge with shareable summaries.
Steps:
- Upload meeting audio (MP3, M4A, WAV)—NotebookLM transcribes automatically
- Ask targeted questions: “What budget decisions were made?” “Who owns the website redesign?”
- Generate 10-minute Audio Overview of key decisions
- Create Slide Deck (Presenter format) for team briefing
- Download audio, share slides PDF, share notebook with team (Viewer access)
Why this works: Transforms unstructured recordings into queryable knowledge. Multiple output formats serve different team preferences.
Workflow 4: Content Creation Pipeline
Goal: Research a topic and create multi-platform content.
Steps:
- Use Deep Research on your topic (generates 30+ sources with citations)
- Generate Blog Post report format
- Create Infographic for social media (square orientation for Instagram)
- Generate Slide Deck for LinkedIn carousel
- Create Audio Overview for podcast repurposing
- Create Video Overview (Brief format) for TikTok/Reels
- Export all: Copy blog text, download infographic PNG, download slides PDF, download audio WAV
Why this works: One research session produces content for 5+ platforms. All grounded in the same sources for consistency.
Limitations & Quotas
Export Gaps
- No complete notebook export—structure and organization don’t export
- Notes require manual copying
- Flashcards and Quizzes share via link only (no download)
- Reports (Study Guides, Briefing Docs) require copy/paste
- Interactive Audio conversations don’t transfer to downloads
- Video Overviews not available on mobile app
File Restrictions
- 500,000 words OR 200MB per source (whichever first)
- PDFs work best under 200 pages
- Audio processes well up to 3 hours
Notebook Limits
- Free: 50 sources/notebook, 100 notebooks total
- Plus/Enterprise: 300 sources/notebook, 500 notebooks total
Daily Generation Limits
- Free: 3 Audio Overviews, ~50 chat queries
- Plus: 15 Audio Overviews (5x more), ~250 chat queries
Feature Restrictions
- Video Overview visual style customization: 18+ users only
- Interactive Audio Mode: English only
- Public sharing: Not available for Workspace Enterprise/Education
- Mobile audio: Can’t extract files from app downloads
- Slide Decks and Infographics: Rolling out to free users (fully available for Plus)
Third-Party Export Tools
Since some NotebookLM outputs lack native export, browser extensions fill gaps:
NotebookLM Exporter: PDF, Markdown, Text exports for conversations and notes.
YouTube to NotebookLM: Import videos and playlists directly to notebooks.
Important caveat: These tools aren’t officially supported by Google. Review permissions carefully.
Key Takeaways
Audio Overviews remain the flagship: Desktop downloads save WAV files. Free gets 3/day, Plus gets 15/day. Mobile downloads only work for in-app offline listening.
Video Overviews add visual learning: Download narrated slide videos with custom visual styles. Brief format for quick insights, Explainer for deep dives.
Slide Decks and Infographics are game-changers: Generate complete presentations and visual summaries directly from sources. Export as PDF and PNG.
Chat now persists: Your conversations automatically save between sessions. 8x larger context window, 6x longer memory.
Deep Research expands your sources: Automatically find and synthesize 30+ web sources on any topic.
Flashcards and Quizzes enable active learning: Study aids grounded in your specific sources—share via link.
Manual export still required for some content: Notes, Reports (Study Guides, Briefing Docs, Blog Posts), and generated text content need copy/paste workflows.
Plus justifies cost for heavy users: 5x more Audio Overviews, 6x more sources/notebook, 5x more notebooks, early access to new features. Worth $19.99/month for research-intensive work.
Multiple outputs from one notebook: The Studio panel now lets you create and store multiple versions of each output type—different languages, audiences, or focuses.
This guide is part of a series on exporting AI work. Check out: ChatGPT Export Guide, Claude Export Guide, Gemini Export Guide. For upload capabilities, see AI File Upload Guide. For daily limits, see LLM Usage Limits Comparison.