Google adds EPUB support to NotebookLM, streamlining e-book uploads for students and researchers

NotebookLM is getting better at handling your e-books

Custom Infographic styles have rolled out to all users, featuring 10 distinct visual themes, such as Kawaii and Bento grid. NotebookLM is one of the better use cases of AI, as it lets users define their source material to prevent the AI from hallucinating beyond those boundaries. Google has been working on several improvements to the NotebookLM experience, such as discoverable notebooks and Gemini x Projects integration, and has recently rolled out features like Cinematic Video Overviews. Google is now adding another useful feature to NotebookLM, and this one will be much appreciated by students and book lovers: EPUB support.

Google makes NotebookLM more useful for students and book lovers

Rajesh started following the latest happenings in the world of Android around the release of the Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy S. After flashing custom ROMs and kernels on his beloved Galaxy S, he started writing about Android for a living. He uses the latest Samsung or Pixel flagship as his daily driver. And yes, he carries an iPhone as a secondary device. Rajesh has been writing for Android Police since 2021, covering news, how-tos, and features. Based in India, he has previously written for Neowin, AndroidBeat, Times of India, iPhoneHacks, MySmartPrice, and MakeUseOf. When not working, you will find him mindlessly scrolling through X, playing with new AI models, or going on long road trips. You can reach out to him on Twitter or drop a mail at [email protected]. At this point, Google has been rolling out major new features or improvements to NotebookLM almost every other week. Since the beginning of 2026, it has gained support for Gemini's latest model, direct integration with the Gemini app, and, more recently, Cinematic Video Overviews. Now, Google is making NotebookLM even better for students by adding support for EPUB files as sources. EPUB (Electronic Publication) is a commonly used open format for digital books. Compared to PDFs, it offers several advantages, such as a smaller file size, reflowable text that can adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions, and support for interactive elements. If you have a digital library of books in EPUB format, you can now directly upload them to NotebookLM. Then, you can turn them into Video or Audio Overviews, generate Slide decks, or get an overview of their content -- all in just a few taps. Considering that NotebookLM is primarily meant for students and researchers, EPUB support will greatly benefit them. They can upload all their EPUB files to NotebookLM, creating a searchable knowledge base. NotebookLM keeps improving, but there's still work to do While a small change, this removes a frustrating hurdle. Previously, anyone with an EPUB-based ebook library had to convert their books into PDFs before uploading them to NotebookLM. Native EPUB support removes this friction altogether. As a student or researcher, if you juggle between multiple textbooks, research papers, and reference materials, you can now turn your entire ebook library into a powerful AI-powered knowledge base by uploading it into NotebookLM. Despite a rapid pace of improvement, there's still a lot missing from NotebookLM. If anything, Google should add support for folders for organizing notes and notebooks. Otherwise, things can quickly get messy, especially as the number of notebooks grows. It also lacks one-click export options, which should make sharing generated files easier. Hopefully, Google gets around to adding these features sooner rather than later.

You can now drop an e-book straight into NotebookLM - Phandroid

If you've ever tried using NotebookLM with a book, you know the drill. Download the EPUB, convert it to a PDF, upload the PDF, and cross your fingers and hope it doesn't screw up the formatting. Google just made that whole process unnecessary. NotebookLM EPUB support is now live, letting you upload e-books directly as sources. Google announced the update on Monday. According to the company, EPUB is one of the most requested features the NotebookLM team has received. It's not hard to see why. EPUB is the standard format for e-books, and NotebookLM's lack of support meant anyone working with digital books had to jump through extra hoops just to get started. With EPUB files now supported as sources, you can use all of NotebookLM's usual tools on your books. That means AI-generated summaries, Audio Overviews that turn your e-book into a podcast-style discussion, and Video Overviews that walk through the content visually. It also supports study guides, FAQs, mind maps. All of it works the same way it does with PDFs or Google Docs. NotebookLM has been picking up new capabilities at a steady pace lately. The tool got a major Gemini 3 upgrade late last year that sharpened its reasoning across complex material, and Cinematic Video Overviews arrived just last week for AI Ultra subscribers. EPUB support is a smaller addition by comparison, but for anyone who reads a lot of books, it removes a real daily annoyance. The practical uses are obvious. Students can pull textbooks directly into a notebook without conversion. Researchers working with published material skip the PDF middleman entirely. Anyone who just wants to actually understand a dense book has a much cleaner path to doing it. Google didn't announce any limits specific to EPUB files beyond NotebookLM's standard 500,000-word-per-source cap, so most books should be well within range.