Evidence uncovered in late June suggests Google is quietly testing a “Collections” feature for NotebookLM, its AI-powered research and note-taking tool. The new capability would allow users to group multiple notebooks under a single heading in the app’s main navigation, offering a long-awaited fix for the workspace disarray that has frustrated power users. For Windows enthusiasts who rely on NotebookLM—whether through a browser or its progressive web app—this represents a significant step toward making the tool viable for complex, multi-project workflows.
The Discovery: Evidence of Collections in NotebookLM
According to reports from technology sleuths who routinely dissect application code for upcoming features, strings and interface elements tied to “Collections” have appeared in recent NotebookLM builds. The findings, first shared on coding forums and later amplified by tech news outlets, point to a grouping mechanism that lives within the app’s existing navigation structure. While Google has not officially confirmed the feature, the evidence aligns with a broader industry push to bring order to the chaotic world of generative AI workspaces.
The leaked assets suggest a straightforward implementation: a container that bundles related notebooks, making it possible to collapse them under a named heading. This would replace the current flat list of notebooks with a more hierarchical, folder-like experience. Code references also hint at drag-and-drop support for adding notebooks to collections and a dedicated “New Collection” button in the sidebar.
What is NotebookLM and Why It Matters
NotebookLM debuted in 2023 as an experimental project from Google Labs, originally called Project Tailwind. Built on the Gemini family of large language models, it lets users upload documents—from PDFs and web pages to Google Docs and YouTube transcripts—and then query that material using natural language. Unlike general-purpose chatbots, NotebookLM grounds its responses exclusively in the provided sources, reducing hallucinations and making it ideal for academic research, content creation, and professional analysis.
For Windows users, NotebookLM has become a quiet powerhouse. Because it runs entirely in the cloud and offers a clean, responsive web interface, it works seamlessly on any Windows device with a modern browser. Many power users have even installed it as a Progressive Web App (PWA) via Chrome or Edge, giving it a dedicated window and taskbar presence akin to a native application. Its ability to handle large corpora—like a 100-page legal contract or a semester’s worth of lecture notes—has drawn a loyal following among students, lawyers, and developers who juggle dozens of project-specific notebooks.
The Current Organization Problem
Despite its strengths, NotebookLM suffers from a glaring limitation: no way to sort or group the notebooks themselves. As a user’s library grows, the left-hand navigation becomes a long, undifferentiated scroll of entries, each displaying the notebook name and a thumbnail. There is no option to create folders, tags, or even color-code notebooks for easy identification. For someone managing separate notebooks for work projects, personal pursuits, and academic research, the clutter quickly becomes overwhelming.
This pain point is especially acute for Windows-based knowledge workers who typically rely on folder structures in File Explorer and expect similar organizational metaphors in their software. The absence of such features forces users to adopt clumsy naming conventions—like prefixing notebook names with project codes—or to simply open multiple browser tabs in a desperate bid to stay organized.
Introducing Collections: How It Might Work
Based on the evidence unearthed in late June, Collections will address this deficiency head-on. The feature appears to introduce a collapsible grouping layer at the top of the notebook list. Users will likely be able to create a new collection by clicking a “+” button or right-clicking within the sidebar, then assign existing notebooks to it. Inside a collection, notebooks would still be listed individually, but the collection can be expanded or collapsed with a single click, much like a folder in Windows Explorer.
Screenshots shared by tipsters suggest that the interface will mirror the clean, material-design aesthetic Google employs across its workspace suite. Hover states for collections may reveal a context menu for renaming, deleting, or reordering groups. Additionally, a search function within collections could help users quickly locate the right notebook without scanning every entry. This would mark a significant usability upgrade, bringing NotebookLM closer to mature note-taking apps like Notion or OneNote that have long offered nested hierarchies.
The Broader Context: AI Workspace Clutter
NotebookLM’s journey reflects a larger challenge facing the AI productivity sector. As generative tools multiply, users find themselves drowning in assets: chat threads in ChatGPT, project boards in Claude, canvases in Gemini, and notebooks in NotebookLM. Each tool has its own organizational logic—or lacks one entirely—leading to what some researchers call “AI workspace sprawl.”
Google’s move to introduce Collections is both a response to user feedback and a competitive necessity. Rivals are racing to solve the same problem. Microsoft, for example, has integrated semantic search and tagging deeply into OneNote and Loop, while startups like Mem and Reflect are rethinking note organization around AI-driven suggestions. By adding a simple grouping mechanism, NotebookLM can lower the cognitive load for its most dedicated users while maintaining its core differentiator: grounded, citation-backed AI insights.
Community Reaction: Windows Users Weigh In
On Windows-focused technology forums and social media, the reported Collections feature has sparked a wave of cautious optimism. A multi-thread discussion on a popular enthusiast board captured the sentiment succinctly: “This is exactly what NotebookLM needed to go from a toy to a daily driver.” Many users lamented having to rely on workarounds like separate browser profiles or intricate naming schemes to keep their notebooks under control.
However, some expressed skepticism about whether Collections alone would be enough. Power users called for deeper integration with Google Drive’s folder system, the ability to nest collections within collections, and cross-collection search. Others worried that Google might gate the feature behind a Workspace subscription or limit it to Gemini Advanced users. While no pricing details have emerged, the precedent set by other Google Labs projects suggests that the core functionality will remain free, with advanced features reserved for enterprise tiers.
How Collections Could Boost Productivity
If implemented well, Collections could transform NotebookLM from a research sandbox into a robust project hub. Imagine a freelance journalist who maintains separate notebooks for each article they’re writing. Today, those dozen notebooks sit in a flat list, slowing down navigation. With Collections, they could create a group called “Current Assignments” and instantly filter their view to only the relevant projects. When an article is published, the notebook moves to an “Archive” collection—clean and simple.
For academic researchers, the benefits are even more pronounced. A PhD student could create collections for each thesis chapter, with each notebook containing the annotated bibliography and source material for that section. When it’s time to write, they open the appropriate collection and start querying without distraction. This kind of organization mirrors the folder-based workflows that Windows users have perfected over decades, making the transition to AI-assisted research frictionless.
Beyond individual use, Collections could pave the way for team collaboration. While NotebookLM currently lacks multi-user features, grouping notebooks logically is a prerequisite for any shared workspace. If Google eventually adds co-editing or shared collections, the foundation laid by this feature will be invaluable.
Integration with Google Gemini and Future AI Features
NotebookLM’s evolution is inseparable from Google’s broader AI strategy. The recent rebranding of Bard to Gemini and the unification of AI features under a single umbrella suggest that NotebookLM’s capabilities will eventually merge with other Google services. Collections might be the first step toward a more connected ecosystem, where a collection in NotebookLM could correspond to a folder in Google Drive or a project in Google Chat.
There’s also speculation that Gemini’s memory features could tie into Collections. A Gemini model that understands the context of a collection—say, all the notebooks related to a specific legal case—could offer more intelligent suggestions when the user opens a new notebook. It could automatically populate relevant sources or summarize across the collection’s contents. Such an integration would make Collections not just an organizational tool, but a semantic layer for AI reasoning.
Potential Release Timeline and What’s Next
Google has a pattern of gradually rolling out features from Labs into general availability. Given that the code for Collections has already surfaced, it’s likely in an internal testing phase, with a possible rollout to trusted testers or Workspace Labs participants within weeks. If no major issues arise, a broader launch could follow in the fall.
For Windows users, the release can’t come soon enough. The ability to organize AI-powered notebooks with the same ease as folders in File Explorer would remove one of the last barriers to adopting NotebookLM for serious, long-term projects. While the feature may seem small, its impact on daily workflow could be profound—transforming NotebookLM from a clever tech demo into an indispensable part of the Windows productivity stack.
The leak of Collections is a reminder that even in the rush to build ever-smarter AI, the fundamentals of user interface design still matter. As one forum contributor put it, “I don’t need my AI to be sentient; I just need it to let me find my stuff.” Google appears to be listening.