# \[Visual Studio\] Setting arbitary configuration properties in project file

**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/visual-studio-setting-arbitary-configuration-properties-in-project-file/5049
**Category:** Usage
**Tags:** gen:vs
**Created:** [February 17, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/visual-studio-setting-arbitary-configuration-properties-in-project-file/5049 "2022-02-17T23:55:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![ian.gralinski.inv](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ian.gralinski.inv](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ian.gralinski.inv)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/visual-studio-setting-arbitary-configuration-properties-in-project-file/5049/1 "2022-02-17T23:55:38Z")

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Is there a way to set arbitrary configuration properties in a Visual Studio project file from CMake?

As a concrete example I would like the following to appear in the generated project file:

```auto
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'" Label="Configuration">
    <UseDebugLibraries>true</UseDebugLibraries>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'" Label="Configuration">
    <UseDebugLibraries>false</UseDebugLibraries>
</PropertyGroup>

```

There is [VS\_GLOBAL\_\<variable\>](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/prop_tgt/VS_GLOBAL_variable.html), but this puts the variable in the global properties group, not in a configuration specific group.

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<div class="post-metadata">

### 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: [February 18, 2022, 1:01pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/visual-studio-setting-arbitary-configuration-properties-in-project-file/5049/2 "2022-02-18T13:01:23Z")

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Does [`VS_USER_PROPS`](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/prop_tgt/VS_USER_PROPS.html) help? It is per-target and doesn’t support a `CMAKE_VS_USER_PROPS` variable, but maybe it can help?

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ian.gralinski.inv](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ian.gralinski.inv](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ian.gralinski.inv)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/visual-studio-setting-arbitary-configuration-properties-in-project-file/5049/3 "2022-02-21T00:02:59Z")

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Yes, [VS\_USER\_PROPS](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/prop_tgt/VS_USER_PROPS.html) does work, thanks 🙂