# presets: Omitting \`generator\` does not default to regular generator discovery procedure

**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/presets-omitting-generator-does-not-default-to-regular-generator-discovery-procedure/7910
**Category:** Usage
**Tags:** os:linux, os:windows, gen:makefiles, gen:ninja
**Created:** [April 14, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/presets-omitting-generator-does-not-default-to-regular-generator-discovery-procedure/7910 "2023-04-14T18:48:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![dabe](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@dabe](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/dabe)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/presets-omitting-generator-does-not-default-to-regular-generator-discovery-procedure/7910/1 "2023-04-14T18:48:59Z")

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I have a project that I’d like to use different generators for depending on the OS that is compiling it (specifically, Unix Makefiles for Linux and Visual Studio/Ninja for Windows).

I’d like to just let the automatic generator discovery happen when using cmake presets configurePresets, such as when I run `cmake .` without any arguments. On Windows it automatically discovers msvc and uses the Visual Studio generator, while on Linux it uses gnu and Unix Makefiles. [The docs](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.25/manual/cmake-presets.7.html#configure-preset) seem to suggest this should happen.

However, when I omit the `generator` field on all of my configurePresets, it seems to always try to use Unix Makefiles, even on Windows. This occurs when I try to run using `cmake . --preset X` and when trying to use the VSCode CMake extension to configure.

I’ve tested this on CMake v3.22 on Linux and 3.25 on Windows with the same result, both CMakePresets.json v3.

Is my expectation incorrect here?

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 5:23am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/presets-omitting-generator-does-not-default-to-regular-generator-discovery-procedure/7910/2 "2023-04-24T05:23:10Z")

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Cc: @kyle.edwards

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### Author: ![bam](https://discourse.cmake.org/user_avatar/discourse.cmake.org/bam/32/6146_2.png) [@bam](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/bam)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/presets-omitting-generator-does-not-default-to-regular-generator-discovery-procedure/7910/3 "2026-06-01T00:38:44Z")

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Any update?