NotebookLM easily ranks at the top of my AI lineup, and as someone who writes about AI for a living, that’s not something I say lightly. However, while I’ve constantly praised the tool, I’ve also been vocal about the fact that it isn’t perfect.

Like every other tool, especially one that’s still this new (and somewhat niche), it has its limitations. Though Google’s clearly been directing its efforts toward improving the tool as much as possible, the team can’t possibly add every single feature users want to the app. Fortunately, there are a handful of Chrome extensions that fill in those gaps.

Kortex

Saving me from copy-paste hell

If you've read my NotebookLM coverage before, you probably already know that pairing NotebookLM with other productivity tools is one of my favorite things to do. It takes an already excellent tool to the next level, and I’ve probably paired it with just about everything at this point. One Chrome extension that’s made this pairing a lot simpler is Kortex.

While it has a lot of great features, its biggest strength is that it adds a NotebookLM button to the UI of certain third-party tools, letting you import an entire conversation into a NotebookLM notebook as a source. Currently, Kortex supports ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. The best part is that the NotebookLM button blends into the interface and doesn’t get in the way of anything.

You can either import a conversation into a NotebookLM notebook you’ve already created or choose to create a fresh new one. If you go the latter route, Kortex also opens the notebook it just created automatically. This extension is single-handedly the best addition I’ve made to my NotebookLM workflow.

Since I frequently work with other tools to understand topics and brainstorm, being able to send entire conversations straight into NotebookLM without breaking my flow has been a game-changer. It saves me the constant back-and-forth and is an excellent way to give NotebookLM a base to work with.

AnkiNLM

Turning NotebookLM’s flashcards into actual studying

I've always been a huge fan of learning using flashcards. But creating them? Not so much. I've spent hours on end just creating flashcard decks instead of actually studying the content! While Quizlet and a bunch of other flashcard apps have introduced AI-generated flashcard generation, NotebookLM's Flashcards feature beats all of them since it works exclusively with the sources you upload.

That said, while the feature works great, it doesn’t have a spaced-repetition algorithm or any built-in tools to help you actively study the decks. This is where AnkiNLM comes in — it lets you export your NotebookLM flashcards directly into Anki, so you can take advantage of Anki’s powerful spaced-repetition system and turn those passive cards into effective learning. Instead of manually copy-pasting the question/answer pairs NotebookLM generates, AnkiNLM adds Copy CSV and Download CSV buttons right in the flashcard section of NotebookLM's Studio panel.

The extension even preserves LaTeX and math formatting in the exported CSV, making it ideal for studying formula-heavy STEM subjects. Once you download the CSV, you can import it into Anki (mapping Field 1 = Front and Field 2 = Back) and start reviewing with spaced‑repetition instantly.

NotebookLM Mindmap Extractor

Export it, tweak it, actually use it

NotebookLM's Mind Maps feature is excellent, but it's also the least customizable feature the tool offers. Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, Slide Decks, and Infographics let you add a custom prompt to steer the direction of the output, but unfortunately, Mind Maps don’t have that support. Instead, all you can really do is click the Mind Map button and hope you get something that fits your needs.

One way to work around this limitation is the NotebookLM Mindmap Extractor Chrome extension, which lets you export mind map outputs in different formats (rather than PNGs only, which NotebookLM allows). This extension lets you save your Mind Map as a FreeMind (.mm), Generic XML (.xml), or OPML (.opml) file.

Once you've exported the mind map, you can drop the file into a third-party mind mapping tool to edit, reorganize, and customize it however you want. My personal choice is XMind!

NotebookLM Tools

Yes, it does everything

While I'd typically recommend WebSync and YouTube to NotebookLM, which are two separate Chrome extensions, NotebookLM Tools combines much of their functionality (and more) into a single package. I stumbled upon this extension not too long ago, and it handles bulk URL imports, YouTube playlist and channel imports, and even RSS feeds!

The extension also addresses the lack of organization features within NotebookLM by letting you create color-coded tags to categorize notebooks. You can then filter and search through your notebooks easily.

Finally, the extension lets you export the notebooks you've created as JSON or ZIP files. This last feature is perfect for someone like me, since I keep accidentally deleting NotebookLM notebooks when cleaning up my workspace. Now I can back everything up quickly and avoid losing important content.

These are the NotebookLM extensions that really matter

If you're using NotebookLM without these extensions, what are you even doing? The four extensions I've covered above are the best of the best, and the greatest part is that their free tiers are more than capable of enhancing your NotebookLM workflow without spending a dime.