# Capturing Telemetry

> How Braking Lab Capture works while you race — real-time dashboard, status indicators, and controls.

Once configured, Capture works in the background while you race. This page covers what you see in the app and how to control it.

## The Dashboard

The main window is your real-time dashboard. At a glance, you can see:

- **Current status** — whether Capture is waiting, connected, or actively capturing
- **Session info** — track, car, session type, and lap count (updated live as you drive)
- **Best lap time** — your fastest lap in the current session
- **Pending files** — how many sessions are waiting to be processed or synced

With auto-process and auto-sync enabled, you don't need to interact with the dashboard at all — it's there when you want to check on things.

## Status Indicators

| Status | What It Means |
|--------|---------------|
| **Waiting for iRacing** | Capture is idle, ready for your next session |
| **Connected to iRacing** | iRacing is running, waiting for a session to start |
| **Capturing Telemetry** | Active session in progress — your data is being captured live |
| **Capture Paused** | You've manually paused capture |

The status updates automatically — no action needed on your part.

## Pause and Resume

Sometimes you don't want to capture a session (e.g., testing setups or warming up). You can pause capture:

- **From the dashboard** — click the pause/resume button
- **From the system tray** — right-click the tray icon

When paused, Capture ignores new sessions until you resume. It resumes automatically when you restart the app.

## Background Operation

Capture is designed to stay out of your way:

- **System tray** — minimize to the tray and forget about it
- **Lightweight** — minimal CPU and memory usage, no impact on your sim
- **Start with Windows** — optional setting to launch automatically at boot

See [Settings](/en/docs/capture/settings) for all background and startup options.

## Multiple Sessions

Run as many sessions as you want back to back. Capture handles everything automatically — each session's data will appear in the web app.

## Next Steps

- [File Management](/en/docs/capture/file-management) — Browse and manage your telemetry library
- [Cloud Sync](/en/docs/capture/cloud-sync) — How your data gets to the web app