TL;DR
Google is introducing notebooks inside the Gemini app this week, giving users a dedicated space to group chats, uploaded files and custom instructions around a single project. Notebooks sync with NotebookLM, meaning sources added in either app appear in both, and the feature launches on web for Google AI Ultra, Pro and Plus subscribers before reaching free users and mobile.
From chat history to workspace
Gemini has, until now, treated conversations as a flat history. Notebooks introduce a container: users can move past chats into a notebook, attach PDFs and documents, and set standing instructions Gemini applies whenever that notebook is active. Google pitches the feature at longer-running projects — exam revision, research, multi-week work tasks — where a single thread runs out of useful context.
The NotebookLM sync is the more interesting half. Sources added in Gemini flow into NotebookLM automatically, where users can generate Video Overviews, Infographics and audio summaries that Gemini itself does not produce. The reverse also works, so a research notebook started in NotebookLM can be interrogated conversationally in Gemini without re-uploading anything.
Where this fits
The release formalises an integration Google began at the end of 2025, when NotebookLM became a selectable source inside Gemini. It also pulls Google closer to how ChatGPT Projects and Claude Projects already work, where a persistent workspace with attached files has become the default interaction model for knowledge-work tasks. For UK subscribers, paid plans get access first, with Europe-wide and free-tier availability following “in the coming weeks” — a pattern consistent with Google’s usual rollout rhythm for generative features.
Looking forward
Notebooks that follow users across two different apps are a small step towards the “persistent context layer” that every frontier lab is racing to build. For UK professionals already juggling Gemini, NotebookLM, Drive and Workspace, the real test will be whether the sync extends beyond these two apps into the broader Google productivity stack — and how much free users eventually see.