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# Introduction
NotebookLM is a powerful AI tool launched by Google. It is designed to augment analytical capabilities through advanced natural language processing and insightful summarizations. One of its most fascinating applications is the ability to generate insights, summaries, and even audio overviews from documents. While NotebookLM does not directly support Excel (.xlsx) files, you can easily export your Excel data to compatible formats like PDF or TXT for analysis.
This tutorial will show you how to analyze your Excel spreadsheets with NotebookLM.
# Step 1: Preparing and Exporting Excel Spreadsheets
Let’s consider a quarterly business report with data on sales, expenses, profit, and customer satisfaction scores across different regions and product categories. The goal is to analyze this data to track performance and identify trends.
To analyze this data using NotebookLM, export your spreadsheet:
- Go to the File tab > select Save As > select PDF/TXT from the file type dropdown, and click Save.
- A PDF will retain visual formatting, while a TXT file ensures pure text-based data suitable for detailed textual analysis.
Ensure that exported files have clean headers, accurate numerical data, and consistent formatting.
# Step 2: Uploading Data to NotebookLM
After exporting the spreadsheet into a suitable format (PDF or TXT), open NotebookLM in your browser.
- Select Upload File > choose your exported PDF or TXT file
- Click Open
NotebookLM will rapidly scan and digest the content of your data, preparing it for interactive querying.
# Step 3: Analyzing Data with NotebookLM
Once you upload the file, NotebookLM automatically generates a summary, allowing you to begin exploring your spreadsheet data.
NotebookLM also suggests relevant questions. You can either type your own question or select one of the automatically generated prompts to begin your analysis.
As you interact with the tool, it suggests new prompts, guiding you toward deeper insights.
Regional Insights:
Let’s identify high-performing regions or products through natural language queries such as:
Which region had the highest sales in Q2?
What product showed the greatest profitability increase?
NotebookLM Response:
“To determine which product showed the greatest profitability increase, we will compare the change in profit from Q1 to Q4 for each product category.
Here is the profitability increase for each product:
- Laptop (North Region)
- Q1 Profit: $35,000
- Q4 Profit: $60,000
- Profit Increase: $60,000 – $35,000 = $25,000
- Smartphone (South Region)
- Q1 Profit: $35,000
- Q4 Profit: $45,000
- Profit Increase: $45,000 – $35,000 = $10,000
- Tablet (East Region)
- Q1 Profit: $20,000
- Q4 Profit: $30,000
- Profit Increase: $30,000 – $20,000 = $10,000
- Accessories (West Region)
- Q1 Profit: $15,000
- Q4 Profit: $25,000
- Profit Increase: $25,000 – $15,000 = $10,000
Based on these calculations, the Laptop in the North Region showed the greatest profitability increase, with its profit growing by $25,000 from Q1 to Q4. This product also consistently held the highest profit figures throughout the year, as noted in our previous conversation about overall profit [Conversation History]”.
NotebookLM first provides detailed calculations and then presents the final answer. This is particularly useful for users who want to see the underlying analysis, not just the conclusion. This level of detail can be very helpful for stakeholders who need to grasp the key insights from quarterly sales data.
Customer Insights:
To understand customer behavior, you can use the following prompt.
What’s the average customer satisfaction score?
NotebookLM Response:
“To calculate the average customer satisfaction score, we need to sum all the individual customer satisfaction scores provided in the sources and then divide by the total number of scores.
Here are the customer satisfaction scores for each product, region, and quarter:
- Laptop (North Region) Q1: 88%
- Smartphone (South Region) Q1: 85%
- Tablet (East Region) Q1: 80%
- Accessories (West Region) Q1: 90%
- Laptop (North Region) Q2: 87%
- Smartphone (South Region) Q2: 83%
- Tablet (East Region) Q2: 82%
- Accessories (West Region) Q2: 89%
- Laptop (North Region) Q3: 89%
- Smartphone (South Region) Q3: 84%
- Tablet (East Region) Q3: 81%
- Accessories (West Region) Q3: 91%
- Laptop (North Region) Q4: 90%
- Smartphone (South Region) Q4: 86%
- Tablet (East Region) Q4: 83%
- Accessories (West Region) Q4: 92%
Summing these scores: 88 + 85 + 80 + 90 + 87 + 83 + 82 + 89 + 89 + 84 + 81 + 91 + 90 + 86 + 83 + 92 = 1380
There are 16 individual customer satisfaction scores recorded across all products and quarters.
Now, divide the total sum by the number of scores: 1380 / 16 = 86.25
Therefore, the average customer satisfaction score is 86.25%“.
NotebookLM’s detailed response validates the result automatically, ensuring its accuracy.
# Step 4: Creating an Audio Overview
One interesting feature of NotebookLM is its ability to generate audio overviews of uploaded content. It can convert textual summaries into audio overviews, making it easy to absorb information:
- You can use the “Audio Overview” option in NotebookLM.
- Or to create a customized audio summary, simply prompt NotebookLM with: “Provide an audio overview summarizing key trends from this quarterly data”.
NotebookLM will generate an audio file that you can download. This file concisely summarizes essential insights, making it ideal for presentations or executive briefings. You can also stream the audio overview, which facilitates easy review during commutes or meetings.
# Step 5: Visualizing Insights with Mind Maps
NotebookLM also offers mind maps, which are a great way to visualize relationships and key points extracted from your data.
- In NotebookLM, you can click “Mind map”.
- Or prompt the system clearly: “Generate a mind map summarizing relationships and insights into the quarterly sales data”.
- Once the Mind Map is created, it opens from the right-side bar.
- It automatically considers primary insights as central nodes, branching into detailed points such as regional sales performance, product profitability, and customer satisfaction trends.
- You can customize the mind map by dragging nodes, adding notes, or highlighting significant insights.
This mind map visually highlights connections between products, regions, performance metrics, and customer satisfaction, allowing for easy interpretation and communication of complex information. This visual representation also aids memory retention and clarifies complex data relationships.
# Step 6: Making Strategic Decisions Using NotebookLM Insights
After exploring and analyzing the data with NotebookLM, you’ll be equipped with actionable insights that can guide decision-making.
For instance, if the analysis shows growing sales but shrinking profit margins for a product, this might indicate the need to review pricing strategies or supply chain efficiencies.
Alternatively, if customer satisfaction remains consistently high in a certain region, you can apply that region’s customer service practices in low-performing regions.
# Conclusion
You can leverage NotebookLM to analyze your Excel spreadsheets. Though NotebookLM does not yet directly accept Excel spreadsheet files, exporting data to PDF or plain text easily bridges that gap. It provides a powerful means to uncover actionable insights easily and efficiently. Whether generating concise audio summaries or detailed mind maps, NotebookLM transforms how you engage with data, streamlining analysis and decision-making processes.
Shamima Sultana works as a Project Manager at ExcelDemy, where she does research on Microsoft Excel and writes articles related to her work. Shamima holds a BSc in Computer Science and Engineering and has a great interest in research and development. Shamima loves to learn new things, and is trying to provide enriched quality content regarding Excel, while always trying to gather knowledge from various sources and making innovative solutions.
