// How-to · Personal knowledge base: AI that answers from my files
Get AI to answer only from your own files (NotebookLM)
NotebookLM answers only from the sources you add to a notebook and marks where each answer comes from, which suits reading notes, course material and papers.
verified 2026-10-221 official sources
Scenario: Personal knowledge base: AI that answers from my files →
Symptoms
- A general chatbot invented things that are not in your documents
- You want to ask questions across dozens of PDFs
Common causes
- General assistants mix training knowledge with your files
- Unrelated material sits in the same notebook
How to fix
- Create one notebook per topic
- Add sources: PDFs, web links, Google Docs, pasted text (supported types per the official help)
- OCR scanned PDFs or convert them to Markdown first, or the text may not be read
- Ask it to answer only from the sources with citations, and click citation numbers to check the original
- Use the generated study guides, timelines and audio overviews for revision
Notes
- Files are uploaded to Google; use a local knowledge base for confidential material
- Source count and size are limited; see the official help
Official references
Compiled from official documentation and public discussions on 2026-10-22; not yet reproduced in our own environment. Follow the official docs if they differ.