3 upcoming NotebookLM features we all should be waiting for

Google is preparing to launch three new NotebookLM features — Personal Preferences, Connectors, and Canvas — that have surfaced in recent builds, signaling a shift toward a more personalized and integrated research workspace. Personal Preferences would tailor the tool's tone and depth based on user activity, Connectors would pull external data from Google services like Calendar and Gmail into notebooks, and Canvas would allow users to transform sources into interactive artifacts such as timelines or games. The features, combined with NotebookLM's integration into Gemini, aim to create a unified workspace for building structured, visual experiences directly from documents, though a release date has not been announced.

Google appears to be lining up a batch of NotebookLM features that have been in the works for months, surfacing quietly in recent builds even as the team drops hints that an announcement may not be far off. Three additions stand out, and together they sketch a clear direction. The first is Personal Preferences https://www.testingcatalog.com/google-tests-personal-intelligence-for-notebooklm-conversations/ , which debuted in Gemini and is now set to reach NotebookLM. It would let the tool learn from your activity and build editable personas, adjusting tone and technical depth to how you work. While Gemini’s version reaches into Gmail, Drive, Photos, and Calendar, the NotebookLM signals so far lean toward in-app personalization drawn from your notebooks and chats, which is useful for anyone doing repeated, deep-context research. Allow NotebookLM to use your past interactions e.g., conversations, artifacts, and customization instructions to understand your preferences and tailor the experience to your needs. Connectors https://www.testingcatalog.com/google-tests-canvas-and-connectors-on-notebooklm/ , sitting alongside it in settings, would close that gap. Working much like MCP, it would pull outside data into a notebook, most likely starting with Google’s own services such as Calendar, Gmail, and Drive. The piece is not yet operational, and the roster of supported sources remains open. Canvas https://www.testingcatalog.com/google-tests-canvas-and-connectors-on-notebooklm/ is arguably the headline. Found in the Studio panel, it would turn sources into a custom artifact — an interactive timeline, an explainer web page, a lightweight game, or a visualizer, guided by a prompt describing what you want and how. It extends the outputs that NotebookLM already offers, including infographics, slide decks, data tables, and mind maps. The combination is where it gets compelling. With NotebookLM now living inside Gemini, the three would let people work across their sources without copying material between tools, matching Google’s push to turn a source-grounded reader into a workspace for building structured, visual experiences on top of documents. On models, NotebookLM https://www.testingcatalog.com/tag/notebooklm/ moved to Gemini 3 late last year; with Gemini 3.5 Flash now the global default after I/O 2026, the Flash branch of that family is the natural next base. A firm timeline is still missing, so the open question is when, not whether.