Google's Gemini chatbot can now work with your saved notebooks

Google's Gemini chatbot can now work with your saved notebooks in the middle of a conversation. The feature is called Gemini Notebook, and it is now a "Connected App." It is switched on by default for users worldwide, except in the European Economic Area, where it starts off.

What changed

Gemini Notebooks were already available in a side panel in the Gemini app. Google is now adding a deeper link. As a Connected App, Gemini Notebook "allows you to manage and query notebooks directly within your chats using natural language." Natural language just means you type or speak normally, without special commands.

• Pull information from a notebook you already have
• Create a new notebook
• Add sources to a notebook
• Save notes without leaving the chat

Google says the Gemini app will "automatically detect when to use the Gemini Notebook Connected App for relevant prompts." You can also call it up by typing @Gemini Notebook.

Who it affects

Anyone who uses Gemini and keeps notebooks in it. Connected Apps are tools that Gemini can reach into, such as Google Workspace or Photos. Notebook now sits in that same group. Because the setting is on by default outside the European Economic Area, your notebooks may be open to your chats without you choosing that.

What to do

If you want to control how Gemini uses your notebooks, look at the Connected Apps settings in the Gemini app and decide whether you want Notebook on or off. Users in the European Economic Area will need to turn it on themselves if they want it.

What is not known yet

The report does not say how to find the setting, how Gemini decides a prompt is relevant, or whether notebook contents are used in any other way. Google's own help pages are the place to check for those details.