NotebookLM Mind Map Editor

The easiest way to edit NotebookLM mind maps — import an outline, shape it on the canvas, export it anywhere.

Turn Markdown or outlines into an interactive mind map you can actually edit — rename nodes, drag branches, restyle, and export. Built for refining the mind maps NotebookLM generates.

NotebookLM's mind maps are one of its best features — and one of its most frustrating, because the moment one appears you discover you can't touch it. You can't rename a node that's worded badly, move a branch that landed under the wrong theme, delete the tangent you don't care about, or add the one idea that's in your head instead of your sources. This editor is the missing second half of that workflow. Import any Markdown outline — including one describing a NotebookLM mind map — or start from a blank canvas, and you have a live, interactive mind map. Every node can be renamed, restyled, or deleted. Every branch can be dragged to a new parent, collapsed, duplicated, or extended with your own thinking. And your map is never trapped in a proprietary format: what you built is always one click away from clean Markdown, PNG, SVG, PDF, or JSON.

How it works

1. Start on the canvas — or get an outline — Create a blank map and grow it with Tab and the + buttons, or ask NotebookLM to express a topic as a nested Markdown outline — headings, indented bullets, or a mix of both work.
2. Drop the file onto the editor — A .md, .json, or .opml file becomes an interactive mind map instantly. Headings and indentation define the branches; nothing is uploaded — parsing happens entirely in your browser.
3. Edit until it's yours — Double-click to rename, Tab and Enter to grow the map, drag a branch onto another node to re-parent it, collapse what you're done with, and color the branches that matter.
4. Export it anywhere — Download the finished map as Markdown, PNG, SVG, PDF, or JSON — or copy the Markdown straight back into NotebookLM as a new source.

Why this helps NotebookLM

NotebookLM's mind map is the fastest way to see the shape of a pile of sources — and the slowest way to do anything about it, because it can't be edited. The practical escape hatch is text: ask NotebookLM to turn the topic into a nested Markdown outline, and its answer captures the same structure the mind map shows.

That outline is this editor's native food. Import it and the structure NotebookLM proposed becomes a mind map you fully control — every node renameable, every branch draggable, with your own ideas added alongside what the sources said. This is the step where a summary of sources becomes a plan of action.

It also closes the loop. Export your refined map as Markdown and add it back to your notebook as a source, and NotebookLM now reasons over your structure — your priorities, your groupings, your added context — not just its own first draft.

What you need to know

Why an editable mind map beats a generated one

A generated mind map shows you what your sources say. An editable mind map lets you decide what you think. The act of moving a branch, renaming a vague node, or deleting a dead end is where the actual learning happens — restructuring information is how it becomes yours. When a map is frozen, it stays a picture of someone else's structure. When you can edit it, it becomes a working document: a study plan, an essay skeleton, a project breakdown.

The NotebookLM limitation this solves

NotebookLM generates mind maps from your sources, and they're genuinely good starting points — but they are read-only. You can expand and collapse branches and click a node to query it, and that's the entire feature. No renaming, no rearranging, no adding nodes, no styling, no exporting the structure as text. If the map is 90% right, there is no way to fix the remaining 10%. This editor takes over exactly where NotebookLM stops: get the structure out as an outline, refine it here, and keep the result in formats you control.

It complements NotebookLM — it doesn't compete with it

NotebookLM is unbeatable at the first step: reading a pile of sources and proposing a structure. This editor doesn't try to do that. It does the second step — the one NotebookLM skips — turning a proposed structure into your structure. The two together are a complete workflow: NotebookLM drafts the map from your sources; you shape it into something worth keeping, then export it to Markdown and even feed it back into NotebookLM as a source.

Markdown is the bridge

Everything in this editor round-trips through plain Markdown. Headings become levels; bullets become branches; indentation becomes depth. That one decision means your mind map is never locked in: it can come from a NotebookLM chat response, an Obsidian note, a meeting outline, or a ChatGPT answer — saved as a .md file and dropped onto the editor — and it can leave as a clean .md file that works in any tool you'll use in the next decade.

Example workflows

Exam prep: ask NotebookLM to outline a topic from your lecture sources, import the outline here, prune it to what the exam covers, and export a PNG for revision. Writing: generate a mind map of your research notebook, drag branches into the order of your argument, and export Markdown as your first draft's skeleton. Team planning: import a meeting outline, restructure it live while screen-sharing, and send the SVG. Reading dense papers: map the paper's structure, collapse everything, and expand one branch at a time as you work through it.

Common use cases

• Refine a NotebookLM mind map — NotebookLM proposes the structure; you fix the wording, drop the tangents, and add the branch it missed. The 90%-right generated map becomes 100% yours.
• Turn study notes into a revision map — Import lecture notes or a study-guide outline and shape it into a visual map of the course. Collapse mastered branches, color the weak spots, export a PNG for your wall.
• Outline essays and long documents — Build the argument visually — drag sections until the order feels right — then export Markdown and start writing inside your own structure.
• Break down projects visually — Start from a root node, hit Tab a few dozen times, and a project becomes a tree of workstreams and tasks you can rearrange as understanding improves.
• Convert Markdown to a mind map for presentations — Any Markdown document with headings is already a mind map waiting to happen. Import it, restyle it, and export a clean SVG or PDF for slides and docs.
• Brainstorm without losing structure — Dump ideas as fast as you can type with keyboard-only editing, then spend ten minutes dragging them into themes. Markdown export means the result is instantly a document, not just a picture.

Frequently asked questions

Can I edit a mind map that NotebookLM generated?

Not directly inside NotebookLM — its mind maps are read-only by design. The reliable path is through text: ask NotebookLM in chat to present the same topic as a nested Markdown outline (it reproduces the mind map's structure faithfully), save that outline as a .md file and drop it onto this editor, and you have a fully editable version of the map. We're building a one-click import from NotebookLM into the Sourclip extension so this step disappears.

How do I turn Markdown into a mind map?

Import the .md file — drop it anywhere on the editor or use Open → Import file. Headings (#, ##, ###) become levels of the map, and indented bullet lists become branches under whatever heading precedes them. You can mix both styles freely, and inconsistent indentation — two spaces here, a tab there — is handled gracefully instead of breaking the tree.

Can I start from a blank canvas?

Yes — and it's the fastest way to think visually. Create a new map, double-click the center node to name it, then grow the map with Tab (child), Enter (sibling), or the + buttons that appear when you hover any node. You never need an outline to begin; import is there for when you already have one.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

No. The parser, the layout engine, the renderer, and every exporter run entirely in your browser. Nothing you import or build is transmitted, stored, or logged — you can load the page, go offline, and keep working. On the free plan your maps live only in the current browser session, so export anything you want to keep; Pro saves maps to your Sourclip cloud.

How do I rearrange branches?

Drag them. Drop a node onto another node and its whole branch moves under the new parent — the map re-lays itself out automatically. Drag a node to empty canvas to place it freely, and use Tidy in the toolbar whenever you want the automatic layout back. Moves, like everything else, are undoable.

What keyboard shortcuts are there?

The map is fully editable without touching the mouse: Tab adds a child, Enter adds a sibling, Delete removes a branch, double-click or F2 renames, Ctrl/Cmd+C and V copy and paste whole branches, Ctrl/Cmd+D duplicates, and Ctrl/Cmd+Z / Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z step through unlimited undo and redo.

What export formats are supported?

Markdown (.md) for text tools and NotebookLM itself, PNG for pasting into documents and chats, SVG for slides and anything that should stay sharp at any size, PDF for sharing and printing, and JSON if you want the raw structure for your own scripts. Exports match the canvas exactly, including your colors and the light or dark theme.

How large can a map get?

Comfortably into the hundreds of nodes — the canvas only renders what's on screen, and the layout engine positions a 600-node map in a few milliseconds. For very large maps, collapsing finished branches keeps both the canvas and your head clear.

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