How to Use NotebookLM to Make Anki Cards (Step-by-Step CSV Method)

Anki is one of the most popular spaced-repetition apps for students, but writing hundreds of cards by hand takes hours. NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) can draft flashcards from your own lecture notes, PDFs and videos in seconds. Its flashcards can be downloaded as a CSV file, so you can move them into Anki and let Anki's scheduler handle the reviews. This NotebookLM tutorial covers the whole workflow, the right import settings and the most common mistakes to avoid.

Why combine NotebookLM and Anki?

The two tools solve different problems. Gemini Notebook is excellent at understanding material: it reads your sources, answers questions with citations and drafts study aids. Anki is excellent at remembering: it schedules each card so you review it just before you'd forget it. Together they're two of the best free AI study tools: one creates the cards quickly, the other makes the knowledge stick.

Step 1: Build a focused notebook

Better sources produce better cards. Create one notebook per course or chapter and add only what you need to learn: lecture slides, your own notes, the relevant textbook chapter, or a captioned YouTube lecture. New to the tool? Start with our beginner's guide to NotebookLM.

Tip: Before generating, untick any sources you don't want in the cards (in the Sources panel). Fewer, focused sources produce more precise cards.

Step 2: Generate flashcards in Studio

1. Open the Studio panel and select Flashcards. Use the edit (pencil) option to customize the set.
2. Choose the number of cards (fewer, standard or more) and the difficulty.
3. Add a short instruction that suits how Anki works best, for example:

Create one fact per card. Keep the front as a short question and the back under 25 words. Focus on definitions, formulas and key dates from chapter 3. Avoid "all of the above" style questions.

Our flashcards and quizzes guide covers every option in detail.

Step 3: Review the cards before exporting

Click through the set inside Gemini Notebook first. Delete or regenerate cards that are vague, too long or wrong. Use the Explain option on any card you're unsure about to see where the answer comes from in your sources. Five minutes of checking here saves hours of memorizing a wrong fact later.

Step 4: Download the CSV

Open the finished flashcard set and choose Download. Google's help center documents this CSV download for flashcards. Keep the original file untouched and work on a copy.

Publisher restrictions can block downloads when a notebook uses certain Google Play Books sources. If the download option is missing, try a notebook without those sources.

Step 5: Check the file in a spreadsheet

Open the copy in Google Sheets, Excel or LibreOffice and confirm that:

• One column holds the question and another the answer. Google doesn't document a fixed column layout, so check yours.
• There's no header row that would be imported as a card. If there is one, remove it or skip it during import.
• Long answers haven't spilled into extra columns.
• Special characters (accents, Arabic script, symbols) display correctly. If they don't, re-save the file as CSV UTF-8.

Step 6: Import into Anki

1. Open Anki Desktop (Windows, Mac or Linux). Importing is easiest on desktop, and the cards then sync to AnkiDroid or AnkiMobile through AnkiWeb.
2. Go to File → Import and select the CSV.
3. Check the field separator (comma) and make sure the preview shows questions and answers in separate fields.
4. Choose the note type Basic (or Basic and reversed card for vocabulary).
5. Map field 1 → Front and field 2 → Back.
6. Pick or create a deck, add a tag such as notebooklm-ch3, and click Import.

Tip: Import a small test file of 3–5 cards first. Once the mapping is right, import the full set.

Alternative: ask an AI chatbot for an Anki-ready CSV

If you don't use Gemini Notebook, paste your notes into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini and ask:

Turn these notes into Anki cards. Output a CSV with two columns: Front, Back. One fact per card, short questions, answers under 25 words. Wrap any field containing a comma in double quotes.

Claude and ChatGPT can also create the file for you to download. The trade-off is that a general chatbot may add facts that aren't in your notes, while Gemini Notebook stays grounded in your sources.

Writing cards that are easy to remember

• One idea per card. Split lists into several cards.
• Ask "why" and "how", not only "what". Understanding sticks better than isolated facts.
• Use your own words when you edit cards in Anki. Rephrasing forces you to process the idea.
• Add context to ambiguous terms (for example "In biology, what is…").
• Suspend cards you already know well instead of deleting them.

Common problems and fixes

All the text lands in the Front field

The separator was detected wrongly. In the import dialog, set the field separator to comma (or to tab if you re-saved the file as TSV).

Strange characters instead of accents

Re-save the CSV with UTF-8 encoding and import it again.

Duplicate cards after a second import

Anki uses the first field to detect existing notes. Choose the duplicate-handling option you want in the import dialog, or import new sets into a separate deck.

Math formulas look broken

Anki needs MathJax syntax to render formulas. Check a few formula cards and edit them if needed.

A weekly routine for students

1. After each lecture, add the slides and your notes to the course notebook.
2. Generate 15–25 cards on that lecture only, review them and export the CSV.
3. Import the cards into your course deck in Anki with a lecture tag.
4. Do your Anki reviews daily. For most courses, 10–20 minutes is enough.
5. Before exams, use Gemini Notebook quizzes to test your understanding across topics.

Summary

NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) can't send cards straight into Anki, but its flashcard CSV download makes the handoff simple. Generate focused cards from your sources and review them. Then download the CSV, check it in a spreadsheet and import it into Anki with the Basic note type. You get AI speed for creating cards and Anki's proven scheduling for remembering them.

Frequently asked questions