How to Duplicate or Copy a NotebookLM Notebook

Short answer: Yes — since August 17, 2026, NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) has a native Copy notebook action. Open the notebook, choose Copy notebook (on a notebook you own, it's in the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Share), then select Create, and you get an independent, private copy with every source and all of its Studio content. Before that date there was no duplicate button at all — cloning a notebook meant re-adding every source by hand or using an extension such as the free NotebookLM Tools. The extension is still the faster route when you want only some of the sources, want to move rather than copy, want to merge into a notebook that already exists, or need a file backup that keeps your folders.

This guide covers the native copy step by step, what does and doesn't carry over, what to do when the Copy notebook option is missing, and the two extension methods for everything the native copy can't do.

Why People Want to Duplicate a Notebook

A few common reasons:

• A safe sandbox. You want to experiment — add sources, restructure folders, generate new Studio output — without touching the original research.
• A template. You've built a notebook with a specific set of reference sources, and you want to reuse it as the starting point for the next project — or let students and teammates start from a copy of yours.
• A per-client or per-topic split. One notebook has grown too broad, and you want a copy you can prune down to a single client or subtopic.
• A pre-cleanup checkpoint. Before a big reorganization or bulk delete, you want a copy you can fall back to.

What NotebookLM Supports Natively (Updated August 2026)

Since August 17, 2026, Google NotebookLM offers:

• A Copy notebook action on any notebook you own (in its three-dot menu (⋮)), plus on shared or public notebooks whose owner allows copies. The copy includes all sources and Studio content — including Audio and Video Overviews, Study Guides, Flashcards, Quizzes, and Slide Decks — along with the prompts used to generate them and any custom chat configuration.
• An Allow copies setting in the sharing dialog, on by default, so owners decide whether the people they share with may clone the notebook.

It still does not offer:

• Copying or moving selected sources from one notebook into another.
• Merging two notebooks into one — a copy always lands in a new notebook.
• Any transfer of chat history.

Sharing is still not the same as copying: sharing grants access to the same notebook, while a copy is an independent notebook that no longer tracks the original.

Method 1: Copy the Notebook Natively (Copy notebook → Create)

This is now the right default for cloning a whole notebook, and the only method that brings Studio items along.

1. Open the notebook in NotebookLM. You need copy permission — automatic for notebooks you own, and granted on shared or public notebooks whose owner left Allow copies on.
2. On a notebook you own, click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Share at the top right and choose Copy notebook — Google's Help Center describes a Copy button at the top, so use that if your notebook shows one. In the Copy notebook dialog, keep or edit the Title (it starts as "Copy of …") and select Create.
3. The copy appears in your library as a separate, private notebook with the same sources and Studio content. Start editing — nothing you do in the copy affects the original.

To let other people copy a notebook you own: open Share, share it with at least one person or set Notebook Access to Anyone with a link, tick Allow copies, and select Save. Google notes that the mobile app "may have limitations" for this feature, so use a desktop browser if the option doesn't appear.

Two things to know before you rely on it:

• Drive sources are conditional. A source that lives in Google Drive is only included in the copy if the account making the copy can access and copy the original file. Otherwise the copy simply skips it.
• Copies don't sync. Once made, the copy is frozen at that moment. If the owner later adds, edits, or deletes something in the original, the copy doesn't change.

Feature details last verified August 26, 2026 against Google's Help Center and the Workspace Updates announcement (see the sources at the end of this post); menu, dialog, and sharing labels last verified October 1, 2026 in the notebook itself.

Copy Notebook Option Missing or "Copying Is Disabled"?

First check the right place: on a notebook you own, the option is Copy notebook in the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Share, not a button at the top. Google's Help Center still describes it as Copy at the top, so on a notebook shared with you, check there too. If it isn't there, work through these in order:

1. You don't own the notebook and copies are off. The owner controls Allow copies in the sharing settings. Ask them to open Share, tick Allow copies, and save. Until they do, you can read the notebook and copy content you have access to, but you can't clone it.
2. You're on mobile. Google says the Gemini Notebook mobile app may have limitations for this feature. Open the notebook in a desktop browser at notebook.google.com and look for Copy notebook again.
3. The rollout hasn't reached you. Google lists the feature as available now for Workspace customers and personal Google accounts alike — but if your account still doesn't show it, check again in a few days.
4. Sources are missing from the copy. That's usually Drive permissions: the copy only includes Drive files your account can open. Ask the owner to share the file, or re-add it from your own Drive.

For notebooks you do own, you always have copy permission — if the action is genuinely absent on desktop, it's the rollout, not a setting.

Method 2: Copy or Move Selected Sources With the Extension

Use this when the native copy is the wrong shape: you want some of the sources rather than all of them, you want them inside a notebook that already exists, or you want to move sources so the original no longer has them.

1. Install the free NotebookLM Tools extension for Chrome or Firefox.
2. Open the original notebook and click Copy to notebook on the toolbar the extension adds to the notebook page.
3. Every source starts ticked — untick the ones you don't want. Under Copy to, pick Existing notebook and choose one you can edit, or New notebook and type a title, then click the copy button at the bottom of the panel.
4. To move sources instead, click Open on the same toolbar to open the notebook in NotebookLM Tools, tick the sources on the Sources tab, choose More, then Copy to notebook, pick the Target Notebook, and tick Delete originals after copying (move). Moving goes into an existing notebook, and an original is deleted only after it copies successfully.
5. The extension re-adds web links, YouTube videos, and PDFs added from a link as their original type, copies Google Docs, Sheets, uploaded PDFs, and other text sources as text, and skips Google Slides, images, and video files — it shows which is which before you copy. Selected sources only — Studio items stay behind, so regenerate those in the destination if you need them.

This is the same mechanism used to merge or combine notebooks — the difference is that a merge sends sources into an existing notebook, while Google's native copy always creates a new one.

Method 3: Clone via Backup & Restore (Keeps Folders, Works as a File)

Use this when you organize sources with the extension's source folders and want the copy to keep that structure, when you want an offline backup you control, or when you want to recreate a notebook in another Google account without sharing it first.

1. Open the original notebook, open Backup & Restore, and export it as a JSON file. The file holds every source's title, URL, and content, plus the notebook's folder layout.
2. Create a new, empty notebook — in any account.
3. On the new notebook's page, click Open on the extension's toolbar, then Backup/Restore; switch to the Import Backup tab and select the JSON file.
4. The extension adds each saved source back — as a text source with its original link at the top — and restores the folder layout in the copy. A source saved with no text and no link can't be restored.

JSON is the format to choose when folders matter: the native copy and the plain source copy (Method 2) both bring sources across, but neither carries the extension's folders.

Native Copy vs Extension: What Carries Over

What Doesn't Carry Over

Whichever method you use, be clear about the limits of a duplicate in NotebookLM:

• Chat history — never transferred. Neither Google's copy nor the extension can move it.
• Notes — not included in the native copy. If a note matters, keep its text outside the notebook or add it as a text source before copying, because sources do travel.
• Studio items — only the native copy brings them. The extension methods copy sources only, so regenerate audio overviews, mind maps, reports, and quizzes in the copy if you cloned via Method 2 or 3.
• Source IDs — the extension methods re-add each source, so the copy gets new IDs; citations in the original's chats won't line up with the copy.
• Extension folders — only the JSON backup restores them.

After You Duplicate: Clean Up Duplicates

If you copied sources into a notebook that already had content — Method 2 into an existing notebook, or a JSON import into a non-empty one — you may end up with duplicates. NotebookLM Tools includes a Duplicate Scanner. One scan checks every source by link and content: it groups sources that share the same URL, YouTube video, or Drive file, or whose content is identical or very similar, and it ignores titles (two "Merged Sources" with different content are not duplicates). A Keep setting (oldest or newest) picks which copy stays in each group, and you can change the pick for any group; after you confirm, the scanner deletes the rest.

Two ways in: on the notebook page, the toolbar's More button can show a count (· N) when sources share the same link, YouTube video, or Drive file, and Find duplicates in that menu (it reads N duplicates when there's a count) opens the scanner; or open the notebook in NotebookLM Tools and click Scan Duplicates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you duplicate a notebook in NotebookLM?

Yes. Since August 17, 2026, NotebookLM has a native copy action: open the notebook, choose Copy notebook (on a notebook you own, it's in the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Share), then select Create. It works on notebooks you own and on shared or public notebooks whose owner allows copies. The copy includes every source and all Studio content, but not chat history or notes.

How do I copy a NotebookLM notebook to a new one?

Open the notebook and choose Copy notebook — on a notebook you own, it's in the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Share; Google's Help Center describes a Copy button at the top — then select Create. NotebookLM creates a new, independent notebook in your library with the same sources and Studio content. If you only want some of the sources, or want them inside a notebook that already exists, use NotebookLM Tools' Copy to notebook action instead.

Why don't I see the Copy notebook option?

First, check the right place: on a notebook you own, Copy notebook is in the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Share, not a button at the top. Google's Help Center still describes it as Copy at the top, so on a notebook shared with you, check there too. If it isn't there, the usual reasons are: the notebook belongs to someone else and its owner turned off Allow copies; you're in the mobile app, which Google says may have limitations for this feature; or the feature hasn't reached your account yet. Try a desktop browser first. Owners can re-enable copying under Share, then Allow copies. If the owner keeps copies off, you can still read the notebook and copy content you have access to, but not clone it.

Does duplicating keep my source folders?

Not with the native copy. Google's Copy notebook carries sources and Studio content, but NotebookLM Tools folders are stored by the extension, so they don't come along. To clone a notebook with its folder layout, export it as a JSON backup with Backup & Restore and import that file into the new notebook.

Will a copied notebook include my chat history?

No. Google's native copy does not transfer chat history or notes, and the extension methods don't transfer chat history either. If a chat answer matters, save its text outside the notebook or add it as a text source before you copy, because sources do carry over.

Does the copy stay in sync with the original?

No. A copied notebook is fully independent: sources added, edited, or deleted in the original later do not flow into the copy, and vice versa. If you need the same new sources in both, add them to both — the extension's Copy to notebook action can push selected sources from one notebook into the other.

Which Method Should You Use?

• Clone the whole notebook, Studio items included → Google's native Copy notebook (on a notebook you own: three-dot menu, then Create). No extension needed.
• Copy only some sources, move sources, or merge into an existing notebook → NotebookLM Tools' Copy to notebook.
• Keep your folders, archive a notebook as a file, or rebuild it in another account → NotebookLM Tools' Backup & Restore (JSON).

NotebookLM Tools handles the last two — see the full feature list.

Sources: Google Workspace Updates — Make a copy of a notebook in Gemini Notebook (August 17, 2026) and the Gemini Notebook Help Center — Create a notebook. Last verified August 26, 2026; menu and dialog labels checked in the notebook October 1, 2026.

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Related articles:

• Can You Merge or Combine Notebooks in NotebookLM? — The same Copy to notebook workflow, used to consolidate notebooks instead of cloning one.
• Deleted a NotebookLM Notebook or Source? What You Can Recover — Why a JSON backup is your safety net before any risky change.
• Can You Create Folders in NotebookLM? — Set up the folder structure that a JSON duplicate preserves.