NotebookLM will not read a PDF or retells it with errors: scans, tables and protection

Symptoms

• The source was added, but answers about it are empty
• Numbers from tables are retold incorrectly
• A PDF from Drive is rejected

Causes and fixes

1. A scan without a text layer: the service recognizes images but loses text on long, poor-quality scans

What to do: Run OCR (open it on Drive as a Google Doc) and add the text version

2. Tables in a PDF are extracted with the columns mixed up

What to do: Move the tables into a Google Sheet and add it as a source

3. The PDF is password-protected

What to do: Remove the password and add it again

4. The file is on another account's Drive

What to do: Upload the file from your computer or copy it to the Drive of the account NotebookLM is open in

Common problems and fixes

• NotebookLM not working: four causes and what to do
• NotebookLM source limits: 50 per notebook, 500 thousand words per source, and how to work around them

About NotebookLM

Answers only from your own documents, with citations to the exact paragraph and nothing invented from the web. Paid plans from $14/mo. Free plan available.

NotebookLM · Alternatives to NotebookLM