Answering your questions about business and technology
Question
I have a file with a .csv extension that I want to use as a source with NotebookLM. When I go to upload it, I can’t see the file. I thought that I could use CSVs with NotebookLM. Can you help?
~ Anonymous
Answer
Hello,
“CSV” is one of those terms that means multiple things. In this case it is a type of file and it is a file extension. NotebookLM does not (currently) support the CSV file extension and it does support the file type.
What does that mean?
The CSV file type represents the structure of the data in the file. Here is an example of what the data could look like -
fname,lname,title,age,city,state
Joe,Wilson,PM,32,Newark,NJ
Mary,Smith,ED,45,Seattle,WA
Each piece of data is separated by a comma (CSV - comma separated values). Side note - even though it is called “comma-separated”, it can be separated by other characters but that can start to get confusing so we’ll stitch with the commas - side note over.
A CSV file extension is much simpler. It literally represents the letters at the end of your file name (that indicate the type of file that it is).
For example - company_data.csv
WIth all that out of the way, if you want to use a CSV file type with NotebookLM, all you have to do is change the file extension to .txt. If the structure is CSV, like the example above, then NotebookLM should have no issue reading the data and answering questions about it.
You can usually change the file extension by one of the following methods -
-
- Exporting the file
- “Save as”
- Changing the file properties in your file explorer
Hope that helps
~ Damien
When AI Gets Picky About File Extensions…
NotebookLM can handle more than you think—it just needs your sources in the right format. Our short course walks you through exactly how to prep your files, set up your notebooks, and get answers you can trust (without wrestling with your CSVs).
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