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NotebookLM has plenty of obvious strengths, like summarizing sources, connecting ideas, highlighting key points, pulling insights, and more. Most of this lies in its surface-level usage when uploading your sources and then prompting the AI. Once you go beyond that and start playing with NotebookLM Studio, you’ll find a feature that can change how you learn and work.
This feature is called Quiz, and I think it’s underrated. It’s actually one of the most useful parts of NotebookLM that helps with learning and retention. Here’s how I’ve been using it...
What is Quiz in NotebookLM?
And why is it underrated?
The Quiz feature in NotebookLM is exactly what it sounds like - it generates questions from your sources so you can test your understanding. Once all your materials are in a notebook, hit the Quiz button in the Studio panel to generate a set of questions based on your content. They’re usually short and varied, in the format of multiple choice, and are presented in slides with Previous and Next buttons. As with everything else NotebookLM does, the AI pulls from the actual content of your sources instead of just throwing random trivia at you.
Hitting the Quiz button generates a quiz automatically, but you can also customize the quiz when you click the little edit icon. This lets you set the number of questions, the difficulty level, and specify the topic of the quiz in the text box. Quizzes are generated based on the sources you have selected, so ensure you select the relevant ones.
As you’re working through the quiz and selecting your answers, NotebookLM will indicate whether it was correct or incorrect with a short explanation. You can also hit the little Explain button at the bottom to have the AI further explain the answer (this will appear in the main chat window). Furthermore, before you select an answer on a slide, the Hint button reveals a hint to help with the answer. At the end of a quiz, NotebookLM will display how many answers you got right and give you the options to review or retake the quiz.
NotebookLM is great for summaries and overviews, but Quizzes really force you to engage with your content and build recall. It’s ideal for anyone who studies dense material or even creators and researchers who want to ensure they understand their own source content.
How I use NotebookLM’s Quizzes
Where the real learning in NotebookLM happens
I typically start using the Quiz feature after I’ve loaded a notebook with strong sources. Usually, that’s research articles, case studies, some course materials, and PDFs. In my case, my sources mainly pertain to design (more specifically user experience and user interface design). But I’ll also use quizzes through different checkpoints in my workflow; it just depends on the content and how much time I have. Sometimes, running a quick quiz on an individual source right after adding it is a great way to keep that information at the front of my mind.
As for the quizzes themselves, I treat them like real tests that I used to do in school. I’ll go through each question at an appropriate pace to give myself a chance to think of the answer. Sometimes I’ll set a timer for myself (I just use the countdown timer on the iPhone Clock app). But unlike real quizzes in school, which often logged the answers permanently, I take advantage of all the extras that NotebookLM gives me.
Regardless of whether an answer is correct or not, I always read the little explanation below it, and sometimes prompt NotebookLM to dive deeper with the Explain feature. In cases where I really fumbled the answer, the Explain prompt in the main chat includes citations just like regular prompts, so I can revisit those specific sources to get a better understanding. The prompt suggestions also come in handy here if I need to take a minute to properly learn more about the topic. This is also where I start using NotebookLM as more of a notes app - creating Notes to highlight key points to remember for the next quiz.
Although you can’t change an answer once you’ve selected it, you can still toggle back to previous questions to review them, or skip ahead if you don’t know something - I do this all the time. Another thing that I like to do is specify the topic with the Custom Quiz feature. For example, here are some of the prompts I gave it recently for some of my design materials:
Create a quiz focusing only on usability heuristics from the selected sources
Give me 10 questions testing visual hierarchy principles mentioned in the selected sources
Ways to get creative with Quizzes
The Quiz feature doesn’t have to stay academic
There are many ways to get creative with NotebookLM’s Quiz feature beyond studying. One off-label way I’ve used it is by integrating it into board games with friends. Each correct answer on our chosen topic moves us forward an extra space on the board, whereas an incorrect answer moves us back a space. Another creative way is by feeding NotebookLM your personal journal entries and seeing what type of questions the Quiz generates - it’s a pretty cool way to surface unconscious patterns.
Beyond this, you can also use it for team learning and brainstorming. There is actually a share option that lets you send the quiz to others via email. This doesn’t add them as real-time collaborators, though.
Let the AI ask the questions
NotebookLM’s Quiz feature is one of the best ways to make it more interactive. It pushes your information back at you instead of just storing it, and you can even control how the quiz is formulated. Once you start using it, whether for heavy coursework or lightweight fun, NotebookLM transforms from an AI that answers questions into one that asks the right ones, too.