Troubleshooting

Check the address bar first. The app now lives at notebook.google.com, and extension versions before 1.9.4 only work on the old address — so on the new one they show nothing at all. See Current status for why.

Update the extension to 2.2.0 or later, then reload your NotebookLM tab. If the buttons still don’t appear, run through First, try this above.

Only the toolbar on a notebook page is missing? When the extension can’t find the spot it attaches to (usually right after Google changes the page layout), a floating NLM Tools button appears at the bottom-left of the notebook page with the same actions. Open the extension’s Settings → General → Page integration to see each attachment point marked OK, Not found, or Not seen yet — if one reads Not found, use Report it so a fix can ship in the next update.

Toolbar folded into one line? That’s compact mode. It’s off by default and turns on when you click the arrow at the right end of the toolbar (Collapse toolbar), and the setting applies to every notebook tab. To get the full toolbar back, click the arrow at the end of the line (Expand toolbar) or turn off Settings → Account → Page Display → Compact notebook toolbar. While the toolbar is compact, every action is in the NLMTools.com menu at the start of the line (it reads Tools if you’ve hidden the badge). The home page bar has its own switch, Compact home tags bar. No Export sources, Copy to notebook, or More buttons at all? Check that Quick actions is on in the same Page Display card.

Seeing 403 errors in Export Studio, the Studio viewer, or podcasts with several Google accounts signed in, a Google Slides source that opens blank under a second account, or a pile of “NotebookLM Config” tabs? Those are all fixed as of the current version — update the extension.

It’s your Google plan’s limit, reported by Gemini Notebook — not a limit set by the extension. Since 2 September 2026, NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) meters AI features per Google plan: the allowance refreshes every 5 hours, up to a weekly cap, and higher plans get a larger allowance. Google shows the same thing under the chat (“Limit reached. All features are available after …”) and in full at Settings → Usage on notebook.google.com. Details are on Google’s usage-limits help page. Last verified 24 September 2026.

What the extension adds. A chip beside the NLMTools.com badge on notebook pages (and on the home-page bar) shows how much of the current window you have used and when it resets. In the Generate panel the footer reads Already used, Estimated use, and Resets in, so you know before you click. An Interactive Report has no estimate yet, so the footer says No estimate for Interactive Report and leaves it out of the total. If Google reports no meter for your account, the chip simply doesn’t appear.

Why an item shows Scheduled. When a generation doesn’t fit in what is left of the current window, the extension sends it with Gemini Notebook’s own Generate later option and Gemini Notebook generates it after the limit resets — the Studio tab marks it Scheduled with the time, then Processing, or Failed if it didn’t go through. In a Pro batch the button says how the split falls, for example “Generate 1 now · 2 later”. To change the behavior, open Settings → General → Studio timing: Generate now runs what fits and leaves the rest to Gemini Notebook for after the reset; Generate later sends everything to run after the reset. Mind maps can’t be scheduled; they always run right away.

1. Put the meter on the toolbar icon instead: Settings → General → Extension badge → Gemini Notebook AI usage (the badge turns amber when usage is high and red at the limit; Notebook count is the other option)
2. Hide the chip on notebook pages: Settings → Account → Page Display → under Notebook page, turn off Gemini Notebook AI usage chip (the Home page group has its own switch for the chip on the home-page bar)

The extension only reads what Google reports; it cannot raise the limit or reset it early. If the numbers look wrong, compare them with Settings → Usage in NotebookLM and reload the tab.

This doesn’t happen on every update — only when a new version asks for a permission your browser hasn’t already granted. When it does, the browser turns the extension off until you approve it: the icon vanishes from your toolbar and it looks like the extension was uninstalled. It wasn’t, and your data is intact. Turning it back on takes one click.

• Nothing appears after installing. Reload the NotebookLM tab — Firefox doesn’t always inject a newly-installed extension into tabs that were already open.
• Private windows. Firefox extensions don’t run in Private Windows by default. Open about:addons, click NotebookLM Tools, and next to Run in Private Windows select Allow.
• Multi-Account Containers. Each container keeps its own NotebookLM session, and a NotebookLM tab acts as the Google account it is signed in as — as long as that account is connected to the extension (reload the tab once to connect it). If the extension can’t verify the tab’s account, it falls back to your active account and the toolbar shows an Account unverified chip.
• It works on Chrome but not Firefox. Make sure you installed the Firefox build from addons.mozilla.org — a Chrome .crx will not work in Firefox.
• Firefox for Android is not supported. Use desktop Firefox.

1. Open the NotebookLM Tools panel — click its icon in your browser toolbar, or open the side panel
2. Click the “Unlicensed” button in the extension’s own header. (The Unlicensed tag on the NLMTools.com badge inside NotebookLM pages opens the pricing page instead — that’s not the one.)
3. Paste your license key
4. Click Activate

• It’s emailed by Polar to the address you used at checkout — which may not be your Google account address.
• Check your Spam or Junk folder. This is where it usually is.
• You can also retrieve it any time from the customer portal.
• Still nothing after 15 minutes? Email support@nlmtools.com with the address you ordered with.

Each license activates on up to 5 devices. To free a slot, deactivate one you no longer use:

1. Open the customer portal
2. Find your license and its list of activations
3. Deactivate a device you don’t use any more
4. Go back to the new device and activate as normal

Note that each browser or browser profile counts as its own activation, so one computer can use more than one slot.

Invoices live in the customer portal. For a refund, email support@nlmtools.com within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked. There is no subscription to cancel: every license is a one-time purchase and nothing renews automatically.