# Getting Started with EmbedStudio

Install EmbedStudio, look around with a ready-made example, then activate the free license and capture variables from your own target.

- **To explore:** Just the download, no account
- **To capture:** Free license (needs an account)
- **To capture:** Supported debug probe + firmware ELF with debug information

## Install and start EmbedStudio

### 1. Install EmbedStudio

Download the latest release from the download page and unpack it. Releases are published as a zip archive for Windows (x64) and a tar.gz archive for Linux (x64).

[Go to Download](https://embed-studio.com/download.md)

### 2. Open EmbedStudio

Start EmbedStudio from the unpacked folder. The first time, you are asked to accept the license agreement and acknowledge the privacy policy; both can be read in the dialog. Sharing anonymous usage statistics is optional and off by default.

![The Welcome to EmbedStudio dialog: buttons to view the End User License Agreement and the Privacy Policy, a tick box for each, an optional and unticked box for anonymous usage statistics, and Exit and Continue buttons](https://embed-studio.com/assets/example-eula.BaYMGi2V.png)

### 3. The first window

A fresh window looks like this:

- A dashboard named Dashboard 1 already holds an empty plot named Plot 1.
- The toolbar carries Start, Stop, the sample rate and the Probe list.
- The Probe list reads “No probes discovered” until a probe is connected.
- The status bar reads Viewer: EmbedStudio runs without a license, and that is all the next guide needs.

![A freshly started EmbedStudio window: an empty ELF symbols panel reading “no ELF loaded”, an empty plot named Plot 1, the Probe list reading “No probes discovered”, and “Viewer” in the status bar](https://embed-studio.com/assets/example-fresh-window.CXI9-_GI.png)

## Choose where to start

The guides build on each other, but the first needs nothing but the download.

1. [Open an Example Capture](https://embed-studio.com/getting-started/open-a-capture.md). The quickest way to get a feel for EmbedStudio: open the example that comes with it and look at real firmware data. It works without registering anywhere. **You need:** EmbedStudio installed and started. No registration, account, license, probe or ELF file needed: opening a capture works in the unlicensed Viewer.
2. [Activate the Free License](https://embed-studio.com/getting-started/activate-free-license.md). Capturing variables needs a license. The Free license costs nothing and takes your account, a machine ID and one file. **You need:** EmbedStudio installed, and an account on this website with a confirmed email address, already signed in. Registering and confirming the address by the link in the verification email come first; this guide starts after that. A license is tied to one computer, so do this on the computer you will use EmbedStudio on.
3. [Capture a Variable](https://embed-studio.com/getting-started/capture-a-variable.md). Connect a supported target, load your firmware and watch a variable in real time. **You need:** EmbedStudio installed; the Free license installed (see Activate the Free License); a supported debug probe with its drivers installed (on Linux, the USB access rules for the probe); and a firmware ELF file with debug information, built from the firmware that is flashed on the target.

## Ready to Build Your Own Dashboards?

Download EmbedStudio and start exploring your firmware variables.

[Download Free Edition](https://embed-studio.com/download.md) · [View Documentation](https://embed-studio.com/documentation)

Canonical page: https://embed-studio.com/getting-started