Refresh a notebook when the source documents change
The events policy changed on Tuesday. Your notebook, and the briefing you made from it last week, may still be quoting the old deadline with complete confidence.
What you'll make
a refreshed notebook source and a corrected answer to one question that depends on the changed wording.
What you'll need
NotebookLM (Google’s help now calls it Gemini Notebook) with permission to manage the notebook’s sources, the changed original document, and about ten minutes. Keep earlier versions where your retention rules say to.
Example result.
Source: Events note v2 (Google Doc, synced 10:42). Passage: "Equipment requests close at 12:00 on Friday 23 October."
Answer: requests close 12:00, Friday 23 October (v2, section 3). Confirmation from the events team still required.
Saved briefing "Autumn events FAQ": still says Thursday 22 October. Revised and re-dated.Three things update separately: the original document, the copy inside the notebook, and anything you generated from that copy. Changing the first doesn’t change the other two.
1. Pin down what changed
Write down the old statement, the new one, the version and the section. Check the new version is the current one and not a newer draft. Then choose a question that will expose the difference.
Why this works: “Summarise this again” can produce a similar answer while missing the changed deadline. A question aimed at the changed rule can’t.
What you should see: one line of old wording, one of new wording, and a question whose answer differs between them.
2. Refresh according to the source type
Open the notebook’s Sources panel and work out what kind of source you have. An imported Google Doc, Slides or Sheets file is a Drive source. A PDF or Word file uploaded from your computer, or text you pasted, is a copy.
- Drive sources. Google’s help says sources imported from Drive auto-update and sync every few minutes. If the change hasn’t appeared, open the source and select Click to sync with Google Drive.
- Uploads and pasted text. Nothing links them to the original. Add the new version as a source, then deselect or remove the old one, following your retention rules. Renaming the file on your laptop to
Events_FINAL_v2_reallydoesn’t tell the notebook anything.
If a Drive source shows as inaccessible, you’ve lost access to the file or it was deleted. Ask the owner; don’t guess at its contents.
Why this works: the two source types refresh differently, so the fix depends on which one you have.
What you should see: the source open in the notebook, showing the new wording.
3. Rerun the question that shows the change
Use only [current source] to answer [question]. Give the relevant passage and source reference, the current rule and any conditions. I am checking the change from [old wording] to [new wording]. Do not reuse an earlier answer as evidence. If the selected source still contains the old wording, or the new rule is absent, say so.[current source] is the refreshed source’s name and version; [question] is your question from step 1; [old wording] and [new wording] are the two statements.
Open the citation and compare the passage with the original document.
Why this works: naming both wordings makes a stale answer obvious, and “do not reuse an earlier answer” stops the notebook leaning on its own previous reply.
What you should see: the new rule, with a citation that opens on the new passage.
4. Fix what was made from the old version
List the saved notes, reports, quizzes or overviews that repeat the changed rule. They don’t refresh when the source does. Regenerate or edit each one, then put the version or date on it if colleagues reuse it.
Why this works: an old briefing keeps circulating long after the source is fixed.
What you should see: each affected output revised, with its date updated.
Check the result
- The source inside the notebook shows the new wording, not just the original file.
- The answer’s citation opens on the new passage.
- Every saved output that repeated the old rule has been revised.
The usual failure: the answer still gives the old rule, because the notebook holds an old upload or a Drive source that hasn’t synced. Spot it by opening the cited passage: if it shows the old wording, the source is stale, and asking again won’t change it.
The source is now verified as [version] and says [new rule]. Revise [named output] to reflect that rule and keep its conditions. List any other claims in that output affected by the change. Leave unrelated content unchanged and give source references for the revised claims.Use this once the source itself is fixed. [version] and [new rule] come from step 1; [named output] is the saved note or briefing that still has the old rule.
Worked example: Friday replaced Thursday
Fictional example. The events note changed one line:
Events note v1, section 3: Equipment requests close at 12:00 on Thursday 22 October. Requests need confirmation from the events team.
Events note v2, section 3: Equipment requests close at 12:00 on Friday 23 October. Requests need confirmation from the events team.The notebook held v1 as a PDF uploaded from a laptop. Asked “When do equipment requests close?”, it answered “12:00 on Thursday 22 October”, citing v1.
- The failure. The upload was a copy. A colleague had saved v2 over the file on their laptop and assumed the notebook noticed. It hadn’t.
- The repair. The team added v2 as a Google Doc from Drive, deselected the v1 PDF and reran the step 3 prompt. The answer gave 12:00, Friday 23 October, cited v2 section 3 and kept the confirmation condition.
- The second fix. The saved “Autumn events FAQ” still said Thursday. The repair prompt revised it and it was re-dated, as in the example result.
Task kit for this job: Download (ZIP) · Reusable instructions
Go deeper
Optional training: Keep a change-impact list
For a shared notebook, a short record tells the next person what was refreshed and what still needs attention:
Source and version:
Changed passage:
Source type and how it was refreshed:
Source selected for current questions:
Question, cited answer and check:
Saved outputs affected:
Revisions made and remaining gaps:Send it to the notebook owner if outputs other people rely on are affected. Source freshness is a maintenance task, not a guarantee attached to the product name.
Optional training: Keep old versions without confusing them
Sometimes you need both versions, to explain what changed or answer questions about an earlier period. Keep the old source but rename it clearly (“Events note v1 — superseded 6 October”) and deselect it for current-rule questions. When you do want a comparison, select both and ask for the differences by section. For the final passage check, see Ask a notebook question and check the cited passage.