Privacy guide

Is NotebookLM private? What Google keeps

Google says NotebookLM doesn't use your sources, chats, or notes to directly train its foundational AI models unless you send feedback, and feedback is read by trained reviewers and kept for up to 3 years. Notebooks stay private until you share them, and on work and school accounts Google says nothing is human-reviewed or used to train AI models, even with feedback.

Checked against the provider’s own help pages. We make Bearly, which this guide also covers.

Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app, with a Zero Data Retention setting.

NotebookLM or Gemini Notebook?

They're the same product. Google's help center now calls NotebookLM Gemini Notebook ("formerly known as NotebookLM"), at notebook.google.com and in the mobile app. (Google Workspace: Generative AI Privacy Hub)

Your notebooks also appear in two other Google products, each with its own rules for chats:

  • The Gemini app. In most regions, your notebooks show up in Gemini automatically. Chats with a notebook there follow your Gemini Keep Activity setting. (Google: Notebooks in Gemini Apps) For those settings, see Is Gemini private?
  • AI Mode in Google Search (English only, not in the European Economic Area). Notebooks you own appear there, and chats in AI Mode may be used for ads, personalization, and to improve Google's generative AI models. Your sources and instructions aren't. (Google: Notebooks in AI Mode)

What Google keeps

For personal Google accounts, unless the row says otherwise:

What What Google says Source
Sources, notes, and chat NotebookLM uses your files, the outputs you generate, and your chat history to answer you. Chat history is kept and private to you until you delete it. Privacy and Terms; Use chat
How long it's kept Google doesn't publish a NotebookLM retention period. Its retention policy says data you can delete stays in your account until you remove it, and deletion generally takes about 2 months, with backups kept up to 6 months. Google retention policy
Training Your content isn't used to directly train Google's foundational AI models unless you send feedback. Privacy and Terms
Human review When you send feedback. Trained teams review it, disconnected from your account, and keep it for up to 3 years. Privacy and Terms
Sharing Notebooks are private until you share them. Anyone with a link opens a notebook to anyone with a Google account, and Audio Overviews and other outputs shared from a public notebook open without signing in. Create a notebook; Public notebooks
Gemini app settings Separate. Turning off Keep Activity or deleting Gemini Apps activity doesn't delete anything in NotebookLM. Notebooks in Gemini Apps
Work and school accounts Uploads, questions, and answers aren't human-reviewed, even with feedback, and aren't used to train AI models. Privacy and Terms

Make NotebookLM more private, step by step

These steps use the labels from Google's own help pages for a personal Google account.

1. Keep confidential notebooks out of feedback

A thumbs up or thumbs down sends Google your prompts, sources, uploads, and outputs, plus any Gemini chats in the notebook, even with Gemini Apps Activity off. Feedback from Settings > Send Feedback might be reviewed by a human too. Google asks: "Please help us by not including any confidential or sensitive information in your feedback." (Google: Privacy and Terms; Google: Report a problem)

2. Keep notebooks restricted

Check the icon next to Share: a lock means private, the shared icon means shared with people, and a globe means public. To make a public notebook private again, select Share and set access back to Restricted; new visitors to old links can't open it. When you share by email, a Viewer can read the sources and notes, and an Editor can change them and share further. Clear Allow copies if you don't want people duplicating it. (Google: FAQ; Google: Public notebooks; Google: Create a notebook)

3. Delete chat history

In the chat panel, open the three dots menu and select Delete Chat History. Deleted notes can't be recovered, so save anything you need first. (Google: Use chat; Google: FAQ)

4. Remove sources and notebooks you don't need

Deleting a notebook removes it and its sources, and the deletion syncs to the Gemini app and AI Mode. Chats you had with it in the Gemini app move back to your Gemini chat list, so delete them there too. Deleting a source doesn't change Studio outputs already made from it, so delete those as well. (Google: Notebooks in Gemini Apps; Google: Notebooks in AI Mode; Google: Add sources)

5. Check connected apps

On the web, go to Settings > Connected apps to see which apps NotebookLM chat can use. A new connected app is on for every notebook; to turn one off in a single notebook, select Configure Chat in the chat panel. (Google: Connected apps) To connect or disconnect NotebookLM from the Gemini app, use Gemini's Connected Apps settings at gemini.google.com/apps. (Google: Notebooks in Gemini Apps)

Does NotebookLM train on your data?

Not directly, unless you send feedback. Google says: "The content in Gemini Notebook will not be used to directly train our foundational AI models, unless you choose to provide feedback." Feedback is used to "provide, improve, and develop Google products, services, and machine-learning technologies." (Google: Privacy and Terms)

Outside NotebookLM, other rules apply. Data it shares with the Gemini app follows the Gemini Apps notice, including for product improvement, and chats with your notebook in AI Mode may be used to improve Google's generative AI models. (Google: Privacy and Terms; Google: Notebooks in AI Mode)

Who can see a shared notebook or Audio Overview?

  • Restricted (the default): only you.
  • Shared by email: the people you add. A Copy link to chat view link hides sources and outputs, but Google says viewers "may still find ways to navigate to the hidden materials." (Google)
  • Anyone with a link: anyone with a Google account who has the link can open the notebook and ask it questions. (Google)
  • Audio and Video Overviews: you can copy an Overview's link once the notebook is shared or public. From a public notebook, anyone with the link can view it without signing in. Deleting the Overview breaks the link. (Google: Audio Overview; Google: Create a notebook)

NotebookLM with a work or school account

Work and school accounts follow the Google Cloud or Google Workspace for Education terms and your organization's Workspace agreement. Google says your uploads, queries, and the model's responses aren't reviewed by human reviewers, even when you send feedback, and aren't used to train AI models. (Google: Privacy and Terms; Google Workspace)

  • Public sharing is off on Workspace Enterprise and Education accounts. (Google)
  • Your administrator decides access and can turn NotebookLM on or off for everyone or for some groups. (Google Workspace)
  • Your organization's file rules stay behind. A file you add from Drive becomes a new copy stored with your NotebookLM data, and your organization's file sharing and data region settings don't apply to it. (Google Workspace)

What these settings don't change

These settings control what NotebookLM saves, shares, and learns from. They don't change who handles your files.

  • Google still processes everything you upload and ask in order to answer it. It may also process your data "to prevent fraud, abuse, and technical issues." (Google)
  • Feedback stays after you delete. Reviewed feedback and the content sent with it are kept for up to 3 years, disconnected from your Google Account. (Google)
  • Deletion isn't instant. Complete deletion generally takes about 2 months, and data can stay in encrypted backups for up to 6 months. (Google)
  • Exports are on their own. Sharing settings don't carry over to reports or tables you export to Docs or Sheets, and changes there don't sync back. (Google)

Use Gemini through Bearly with zero data retention

If you'd rather the model provider didn't keep your chats at all, there's another option: use Gemini models in a different app that runs them with zero data retention. Bearly is one of those apps. We make it, so weigh this section with that in mind.

Bearly gives you Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app. With ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention. That means the provider running the model doesn't keep your prompt or the answer once it has finished processing them. Our AI proxy doesn't store your prompts or the answers either. Bearly doesn't train AI models on your chats, has no ads, and doesn't sell your data.

To turn it on:

  1. In Bearly, open your account menu at the bottom of the sidebar and choose App Settings.
  2. Select Privacy & Security.
  3. Turn on Zero Data Retention only.
  4. Start a chat and choose a Gemini model from the model picker.

With the setting on, the picker shows only zero-retention models, and automatic fallbacks stay on them too. Each model carries a ZDR badge. The setting belongs to your account, so it follows you to your other devices. (Bearly docs: zero data retention)

What it covers: the models that write chat replies. Web search, image generation, voice, and memory run separately. Web search sends the provider your query, never your name, account, or IP address. Image search runs on a provider that keeps nothing after it answers. Your chats are still saved in your Bearly history so you can come back to them. In the same pane, select Set up end-to-end encryption, and new chats are encrypted on your devices; we store and sync only the locked copies.

Questions people ask

Is NotebookLM private?

Mostly, if you don't share notebooks or send feedback. Google says your sources and chats aren't used to directly train its foundational AI models unless you send feedback, and notebooks stay private until you share them. Feedback is read by trained reviewers and kept for up to 3 years.

Does NotebookLM train on your data?

Not directly, unless you send feedback. Google says NotebookLM content isn't used to directly train its foundational AI models unless you give a thumbs up, thumbs down, or other feedback. On work and school accounts, Google says content isn't used to train AI models even with feedback.

Does NotebookLM share your data?

Google's FAQ says: "Your data will never be shared by Gemini Notebook." People you share a notebook with can see its sources and notes, and your chat history stays private to you. Your notebooks also appear in your own Gemini app and in AI Mode in Google Search, where chats follow those products' rules.

Is NotebookLM secure?

On a Workspace or Workspace for Education account, Google says your uploads, questions, and answers aren't reviewed by humans or used to train AI models. On a personal account, Google reviews what you send as feedback and uses it to improve its products, and anyone you share a notebook with can see its sources.

Do my Gemini privacy settings apply to NotebookLM?

No. Turning off Keep Activity or deleting Gemini Apps activity doesn't delete anything in NotebookLM. Keep Activity covers the chats you have with a notebook inside the Gemini app, not NotebookLM's own data.

Related

Sources

All checked November 11, 2026.

Try ZDR mode on your next question.

Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app. Turn on Zero Data Retention only in Settings, then pick a model.

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