Evernote doesn’t need any introduction, does it? Thanks to its robust tagging system, rich formatting bar, cross-platform availability, calendar integration, and powerful search, it’s been a go-to note-taker for millions out there. Even with a long list of features, Evernote’s analytical capabilities often leave users (including myself) wanting more.

That’s when I decided to bring NotebookLM into the conversation. I wanted to see if I could transform basic static notes into actionable knowledge.

Why did I combine NotebookLM with Evernote?

Because Evernote AI is still basic at best

Like many of you, Evernote has been my ultimate digital brain for years. It’s where I have stored hundreds of notes on research findings, project details, and interesting topics. For a long time, it was perfect for my thoughts and vital information, and it still excels at capturing and organizing.

Following the footsteps of its rivals, Evernote has started offering AI capabilities in its paid plans. However, I quickly realized that they were quite basic, mainly limited to editing and simple search functions within individual notes.

Besides, it works on selected text only. I can’t even ask Evernote AI to summarize information from several notes in a notebook or a tag. I needed a tool that could truly understand the context of my notes, pull out relevant information, and even generate summaries or answer complex questions based on my entire knowledge base.

That’s precisely why I turned to NotebookLM, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed. Besides, it’s completely free to download and use. There was no harm in trying out its capabilities with my Evernote files.

The plan was to leverage Evernote for taking notes and complex research materials and utilize NotebookLM’s powerful AI for generating insights and creative output. Let’s go over how I bridged the gap between these two.

Leveraging Evernote with NotebookLM

The process is quite simple

Importing your Evernote notes into NotebookLM isn’t a one-click process. After all, Evernote is a non-Google product, and there is no direct integration that allows NotebookLM to simply read my Evernote account.

However, NotebookLM’s versatility lies in its support for a wide range of file types, including PDFs. This precisely became the bridge between my knowledge of Evernote and NotebookLM’s analytical capabilities.

The solution involved a manual export process. I can go through my Evernote notes and export them in PDF format. There is even an option to export an entire notebook in PDF format, which was a massive time saver in my case.

For instance, I’m working on a client’s website called ‘Swami Jewels’ and I have several notes in my Evernote notebook. It stored everything from the initial marketing plan, detailed client meeting notes, project specifications, and brainstorming sessions.

I exported them in the PDF format, created a new notebook for the same in NotebookLM and started asking broad, complex questions like below.

  • What were the key challenges discussed in the client meetings regarding the new website design?
  • Summarize the core strategies outlined in the marketing plan.
  • What’s the project budget for phase two?
  • Get me the main takeaways from the client meetings held in March.

Within no time, NotebookLM went to work, glanced through all the PDFs, extracted relevant information, and provided astute answers that would have taken me hours to piece together manually in Evernote. It was truly like having an intelligent assistant read and understand my entire project brief.

Moving NotebookLM findings in Evernote

Supercharge the green elephant

After experiencing the power of NotebookLM in extracting those deep insights from my ‘Swami Jewels’ notes, the next logical step was to bring those learnings back into my primary knowledge hub: Evernote.

The simplest way, and the one I frequently use, is direct copy-pasting. Whenever NotebookLM generates a summary, answers a specific question, or provides an overview, I can simply copy the text and paste it into a new or existing Evernote note.

After all, I wanted my AI-processed information to sit right alongside my original inputs. Any many cases, I also generated mind maps and saved them in Evernote.

However, the real game-changer for me was NotebookLM’s capability to generate audio overviews based on my complex topics. This was powerful. I could literally export those audio files and attach them directly to the relevant ‘Swami Jewels’ notes in Evernote.

Ultimately, my goal isn’t to replace Evernote, but to leverage NotebookLM to complete my Evernote notes with an AI touch.

The secret to smarter notes

While exporting notes as PDFs and uploading them to NotebookLM might seem like a lengthy workaround, it proved to be an effective way to unlock insights. It shows that even with current tool limitations, creative approaches can bridge gaps. What are you waiting for? Explore this hybrid workflow, start exporting your notes from Evernote and turn them into an intelligent archive in no time.

Meanwhile, I hope to see Evernote improving its AI features to a level where I don’t need another app in my toolkit to get the job done. If you are new to NotebookLM, check out these tips to create effective notebooks.


  • NotebookLM is Google’s AI-powered research assistant that turns your uploaded documents, notes, and sources into an intelligent, conversational workspace that helps you connect ideas, summarize insights, and generate new ones.