Google just made one of Gemini’s most useful features available to everyone. The Notebooks feature, originally launched earlier this month for paid AI subscribers, is now available to all free users across the web. If you use Gemini regularly, this is a pretty big deal.
What is Gemini’s Notebook feature and what can you do with it?
Think of Notebooks as a dedicated project workspace within Gemini. Instead of starting over every time you open the app, you can save your conversations, files, and sources in one place under a single topic. Gemini then uses everything in that notebook as context when you ask your next question.
The feature will appear as a new Notebooks section in Gemini’s side panel, right between Gems and Chats. All the conversations you have in Gemini can be saved to a notebook using the three-dot menu.
You can also set custom instructions to control the tone, format, and style of responses. If you prefer Gemini to respond without referencing your saved chats, there is also the option to turn off notebook storage completely.
What makes this really exciting is the NotebookLM integration. These are the same notebooks that are used in NotebookLM, Google’s standalone research tool. Because the two sync automatically, any source you add in one app will immediately appear in the other. This means you can do some research in Gemini and then use NotebookLM’s video overview and infographic features on the same material, without the need for manual transfers.
How many sources can free Gemini users add to a notebook?
Free users can add up to 50 sources per notebook. If you have a paid plan, the limits increase significantly: AI Plus subscribers get 100 sources, Pro users get 300, and Ultra subscribers can go up to 600 sources. The feature currently supports Gemini’s full toolkit, including web search and other AI-powered features.
Notebooks is currently only available on the Internet. Mobile apps or Mac apps are not yet available, but wider availability is expected in the coming weeks.
