How to use NotebookLM Manager

The screenshots show the Portuguese interface. In this guide, each label appears in English with the Portuguese text in parentheses, so you can find it either way.

1Before you start

The extension works inside NotebookLM. It has no screen of its own.

Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Open a notebook at notebooklm.google.com.
The NotebookLM Manager sidebar appears on the left side of the screen.

Important: the extension shows your sources split into groups. These groups are NotebookLM's own labels. If your notebook has no labels yet, click Sort sources in NotebookLM. Without labels, the sidebar stays empty.

2Open and close the sidebar

There are two ways:

The extension icon in the Chrome toolbar (top-right corner). Click it once to open or close the sidebar.
Can't see it? Click Chrome's puzzle-piece icon and pin NotebookLM Manager.
The collapse button ▯▮ at the top of the sidebar. It shrinks the sidebar to a thin strip of icons.

NotebookLM Manager sidebar on the left, showing the list of groups — The sidebar sits on the left. Each row is a group of sources.

3Browse groups and sources

Each row is a group. The number next to it is how many sources it has.
Click the group name to open it and see its sources. Click again to close it.
Each source's icon shows its type: YouTube video, PDF, document, spreadsheet, link and so on.
When you click a source in NotebookLM, the sidebar scrolls to it automatically.

An open group showing its list of sources — An open group lists every source with its name and type.

4Check and uncheck sources

Each source has a checkbox.

The extension's checkbox is the same one as NotebookLM's. Check it in one place and it's checked in the other.
A checked source is one that NotebookLM's chat uses to answer.
Checkboxes also let you choose what to keep when you delete (see the next step).

5Bulk delete sources

Each group has two delete buttons:

Button	What it does
🗑≡ Trash with lines	Deletes the unchecked sources in the group. Checked sources stay. Use it to keep only what matters: check what you want to keep, then click here.
🗑 Plain trash	Deletes all sources in the group.

After you click, a window asks you to confirm. Click Delete to go ahead or Cancel to stop.

Confirm Deletion window with Cancel and Delete buttons — The confirmation shows how many sources will be deleted and from which group.

A progress bar shows how far along it is (for example, 7/14). Wait until it finishes before clicking anything else.

Warning: deletion really happens in NotebookLM. A deleted source cannot be recovered. Check what is selected before you confirm.

6Delete duplicates

If a group has sources with the same name, a yellow notice appears: "14 duplicates found".

Click Delete duplicates.
The extension keeps the first copy and deletes the repeated ones.

Yellow notice about duplicates with the Delete duplicates button — The notice only appears when a group has repeated sources.

7Settings

Click the three dots ⋮ at the top of the sidebar. Green = on. Red = off.

Settings menu with five on/off switches — Your choices are saved for next time.

Option	When it's on…
Auto-expand groups	If the sidebar is collapsed and you click a source in NotebookLM, the sidebar opens by itself.
Sync expansion	The sidebar follows what happens in NotebookLM and refreshes by itself.
Open sidebar automatically	The sidebar is already open every time you enter a notebook.
Always confirm before deleting	Shows the confirmation window before deleting. We recommend leaving it on. When it's off, sources are deleted right away without asking.
Hide popups during bulk delete	Hides the NotebookLM menus and windows that would flash on screen during a bulk delete.

8Troubleshooting

The sidebar doesn't appear

1. Make sure you are inside a notebook at notebooklm.google.com.
2. Click the extension icon in the Chrome toolbar.
3. Reload the page (F5).
4. Go to chrome://extensions and check that NotebookLM Manager is turned on.

I see "No labels created yet"

Your notebook has no groups (labels). In NotebookLM, click Sort sources. The groups show up in the sidebar right after.

A source I just added isn't in the list

Wait a few seconds: the sidebar refreshes by itself. If it doesn't, close and reopen the group, or reload the page (F5).

Deletion stopped halfway

Don't click anything while the progress bar is on screen. If it stopped anyway, reload the page (F5) and run the deletion again: sources that were already deleted won't show up.

I deleted something by mistake. Can I undo it?

No. Deletion happens in NotebookLM itself, which has no trash bin. You'll need to add the source again. That's why it's worth keeping Always confirm before deleting turned on.