When you’re juggling multiple documents at once, whether it’s for your 9-to-5 job or cramming for a college midterm, finding connections across them can quickly become a headache. Just a few minutes in, you’re already struggling to remember where that one key point was, or how it relates to something in another document.

Ever since we first started hearing of AI beginning to play a more important role in our daily lives, this is exactly the kind of task I’d gladly hand over to AI. NotebookLM's Mind Map feature, which launched earlier this year, does exactly that and is perfect for connecting ideas and sources.

However, since the feature has launched, it hasn't had much attention in terms of updates, and is essentially the same it was since day one. Thankfully, I found a Chrome extension that takes NotebookLM’s Mind Maps to a whole new level.

This Chrome extension lets you export and share your NotebookLM mind maps with ease

There are a ton of Chrome extensions specifically for NotebookLM now, but most of them are primarily focused on the same thing: helping users bulk add sources to their notebooks. While that’s definitely valuable, and I’m a heavy user of such extensions myself, I was looking for one that would enhance my NotebookLM experience beyond source management. That’s when I came across the NotebookLM Mindmap Extractor Chrome extension, which is currently in its early stages.

Though the extension doesn’t technically add new features to NotebookLM itself, it does something the platform surprisingly lacks (exactly as its name suggests): it lets you export your Mind Maps. This might sound minor and you might even think "hey, NotebookLM has a download button in the Mind Maps section too." Strangely enough, NotebookLM only lets you download your mind maps in PNG format, which isn't useful beyond just vieiwing the generated diagram as a static image. The NotebookLM Mind Map Extractor changes that by allowing to export your mind maps in different formats.

Once you’ve downloaded the extension and generated a Mind Map within a NotebookLM notebook (and fully expanded it), all you need to do is click the extension icon and then hit the Detect Mind Map button in the pop-up. Within seconds, the extension processes the map, and you can export it as a FreeMind (.mm) file, Generic XML (.xml), or OPML (.opml) file. The developer recommends exporting it as a FreeMind file. Once you’ve selected your desired format, just hit the Export Mind Map button.

At the bottom, the extension also shows a preview of the structure, along with a “Level Distribution” of the diagram, which is essentially a breakdown of how many nodes exist at each level of the map. It’s a small touch, but useful for quickly gauging the complexity of your mind map before exporting it. The developer of the extension claims that all the processing is done locally in the browser itself, and no data leaves the browser.

What I do with my Mind Maps once they're out of NotebookLM

Although all the extension's current features revolve solely around exporting, what a lot of people don’t realize is just how much you can do with an exported Mind Map.

What I love about this extension is that it maintains the original structure of the mind map you want to export. That means you can confidently move your map to other tools without worrying about losing formatting, hierarchy, or relationships between nodes. In a Reddit post, the developer explained that the extension essentially reads the HTML code loaded and then uses an algorithm to identify the nodes and their connections with other nodes. Since NotebookLM doesn't let you customize your Mind Maps, this extension lets me take matters into my own hands.

Once exported, I import my mind maps into Xmind, which is a mind mapping software that lets you fully customize your map. You can change the color of nodes, the text size, rearrange branches, and even convert the entire diagram into different layouts, like fishbone or organizational charts. Similarly, you can also add new nodes to your Mind Map, which I find really helpful when researching. The reason I don't directly create a mind map in Xmind is because, with NotebookLM and this extension, I still get the AI-generated connections and summaries from NotebookLM.

Unfortunately, since NotebookLM currently offers absolutely no customization options for its Mind Maps, this workflow feels like the perfect workaround. I get the benefit of NotebookLM’s AI-driven insights to generate the initial structure, and then I can refine, format, and present it exactly how I want in Xmind. Until (or if) NotebookLM adds proper customization tools, this combo is the best way I’ve found to make its Mind Maps truly useful beyond the platform itself.

If you love NotebookLM's Mind Maps, download this extension ASAP

I'll be honest — I didn't have really high expectations from this extension. After all, it just promised to export mind maps as clean, editable files. But after trying it myself, I realized how much easier it makes working with Mind Maps. Just viewing the mind map alone and interacting with it inside NotebookLM is great, but having the flexibility to edit, reorganize, and share it outside the platform? That’s a game changer.