How to Make Flashcards and Quizzes in NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook)

Reading your notes again and again feels productive, but research on learning consistently favors active recall: testing yourself. NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) can turn your own lecture notes, textbooks and PDFs into interactive flashcards and quizzes in seconds, grounded only in your material. Here's how to create them, customize them and actually study with them.

Why NotebookLM flashcards are better than generic AI flashcards

If you ask a general chatbot to "make flashcards about photosynthesis", you get generic cards that may not match your course. NotebookLM builds study aids from your sources: your teacher's slides, your textbook chapter, your notes. The terms, examples and emphasis match what you'll actually be tested on.

Step 1: Prepare a focused notebook

1. Create a notebook for one subject or one exam (see our beginner's guide).
2. Add your materials: lecture slides (PDF or Google Slides), notes, textbook chapters, even lecture recordings or YouTube lectures.
3. If you only want cards on one chapter, unselect the other sources in the Sources panel.

You need edit access to the notebook to generate or delete flashcards or quizzes.

Step 2: Generate flashcards

1. In the Studio panel, select Flashcards to generate with default settings, or
2. Click the pencil icon to customize first:
   • Number: fewer, standard or more
   • Difficulty: easy, medium or hard
   • Prompt: describe the focus, audience or style
3. Generation runs in the background, so you can keep working in the notebook.

Prompt examples for better cards

Focus only on definitions and key formulas from chapter 3. One concept per card. Answers under 20 words.

Create cards for the dates, people and causes in the sources about the 19th century. Include "why" questions, not only "what".

I'm learning Spanish vocabulary from these texts. Front: Spanish word in a short sentence. Back: English meaning.

Step 3: Study with flashcards

Google's help center describes these study features:

• Got it! / Missed it! Mark each card with the checkmark or cross.
• Explain: click "Explain" to get an explanation of a card, grounded in your sources.
• Progress saving: leave and come back later. Your progress is remembered.
• Results and review: at the end, practice again with "Same cards", "All cards" or "Only cards you missed".
• Controls: previous/next, full screen, shuffle, delete a card, restart, and download as CSV.

A simple, effective routine

1. Day 1: go through all cards once. Be honest with "Missed it!".
2. Same day: repeat only missed cards until you get them right.
3. Day 2 and Day 4: shuffle and do all cards again.
4. Before the exam: a final round of missed cards only.

Spacing your reviews over several days is far more effective than one long session.

Step 4: Generate a quiz

1. In Studio, select Quizzes (or the pencil icon to customize number, difficulty and focus).
2. Answer each question. Use Hint if you're stuck.
3. Click Explain on answers to understand mistakes.
4. At the end, review your results and retake.

In October 2026, Google announced new quiz formats: short-answer, multi-select and fill-in-the-blank. Short answers are especially good practice because you can't just recognize the right option. You have to recall it.

Google also suggests that after testing yourself, you can ask your notebook for feedback to see where to focus next. Try:

Based on the topics in these sources, which concepts are most commonly confused? Give me a 5-question mini quiz on just those.

Exporting flashcards (CSV) to other apps

Use the download control to save your deck as a CSV file. You can open it in Google Sheets or Excel to edit cards, or import it into flashcard apps that support CSV (such as Anki). During import, map the first column to the front and the second to the back. Check the file first, since column layout may vary.

Note: Google says downloads may be restricted for notebooks that use a Google Play Books ebook as a source.

Flashcards vs. quizzes vs. other Studio tools

Tips for teachers

• Create a notebook with your course materials, generate flashcards and quizzes, and share the notebook with students.
• Always review generated questions before sharing. Delete any that are inaccurate or off-syllabus.
• On school accounts, availability depends on your admin enabling Gemini Notebook.

Common problems

The cards are too easy

Set difficulty to hard and ask for "application" or "why" questions in the prompt.

Cards include topics I don't need

Unselect irrelevant sources or name the chapter in your prompt.

An answer looks wrong

Click "Explain" and check the cited source. Delete the card if needed. AI-generated content can contain mistakes.

How to write better flashcard prompts: a quick framework

If the default cards don't fit your needs, use this simple four-part framework in the customization prompt:

1. Scope: which chapter, lecture or topic ("only the sources about cell biology").
2. Type of knowledge: definitions, formulas, dates, processes, cause-and-effect, or vocabulary.
3. Format: how long the answer should be, and whether to include an example.
4. Level: beginner, exam-level or advanced, matched with the difficulty setting.

For example: "Only lecture 4. Cause-and-effect questions about the economy of the period. Answers in one sentence with one example. Exam level." This produces cards that test understanding, not just memorization.

Mixing flashcards with other study methods

Flashcards are most powerful as part of a routine. A good weekly cycle looks like this: listen to an Audio Overview of the week's material to get the big picture, read the generated study guide, do the flashcards for the key terms, then take a quiz to check application. Finally, ask the notebook to explain the questions you got wrong. Each step uses a different kind of memory, which helps the material stick.

Studying with others

If you study with classmates, one person can create the notebook with shared course materials, generate the decks and share the notebook. Everyone studies from the same grounded cards, and you can discuss the ones the group finds hardest. Remember to only share materials you're allowed to share.

Summary

NotebookLM / Gemini Notebook makes active recall effortless: add your own materials, generate flashcards and quizzes in Studio, customize difficulty and focus, mark what you missed and review it again over several days. Export your deck as CSV if you prefer another app. It's one of the best free ways to study smarter with AI, using your course content.

Frequently asked questions