Why can't I add more than one PR template to a repo to then be selected say from a dropdown. My workplace utilizes a monorepo that has different tasking categories that require different pull request markdown templates and I want that.

[Natsoulas]

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Title. Is there a way to accomplish this that I'm missing? I tried a directory for PR templates with multiple in it but I could only get the PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md to work in the .github directory.

[Alhadkabir]

GitHub does support multiple pull-request templates, but they must be placed inside a .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ directory. Any Markdown files inside that folder will appear in a dropdown selector when creating a new pull request. The reason you only saw PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md work is that a single template file at the root of .github/ or under .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md becomes the default template, while multiple selectable templates must be stored as separate files inside the dedicated folder. The correct structure is:

.github/
└── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/
├── bug_fix.md
├── feature_request.md
└── documentation_update.md

Once this structure is in place, GitHub will automatically show the dropdown so contributors can choose the appropriate PR template.

Although, GitHub only loads a single default PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md when it’s placed directly in the .github directory, which is why only that file worked for you. If you want multiple selectable PR templates, they must be placed inside a folder named .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/. Each Markdown file inside that folder becomes its own option in the pull-request template dropdown. For example: .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/bug_fix.md, feature_request.md, and docs_update.md. Once you use this structure, GitHub will automatically display all templates for selection when opening a new pull request.

[Natsoulas]

This literally does not work for me

[SkJonko]

Same for me. I have the same structure without opening the selection in PR. :/

[amidofu]

doesn't work for me too

[Dhruvbitmesra]

GitHub supports multiple pull request templates, but they must be placed inside the .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ folder. Each Markdown file in this folder appears as a selectable option when creating a PR.

If PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md is placed directly inside .github/, GitHub treats it as a single default template, which is why only that one worked earlier.

[Srujanrana07]

Look, GitHub only loads a single default PR template from .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md.
If you want multiple templates that you can pick from a dropdown, the default file won’t do that — GitHub ignores the others unless they’re set up in the right structure.

You can follow this approach:

• Create a folder called .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/
• Put your templates inside it as separate .md files
  (for example: feature.md, bugfix.md, docs.md, etc.)

Once you do that, GitHub will show a dropdown when you open a new PR, and you can choose the template you need.

The key point is that the directory must be named exactly PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE, and the templates must be inside that folder. The single top-level PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md overrides everything else, so remove it if you want the menu.

[AnonymousWP]

There's no dropdown menu at all, even though I have exactly that structure.

[krobinalpha]

Why GitHub doesn’t support multiple selectable PR templates

• PR templates are not a “form system”

GitHub PR templates are:

Plain Markdown files

Automatically injected into the PR description

Not interactive (no UI, no logic, no dropdowns)

GitHub’s design goal was:

“Provide a default starting point, not a configurable workflow.”

Because of this:

No dropdown

No chooser UI

No conditionals

No enforcement logic

[kuzma-rezchenko-EPAM]

But it is possible to specify template in the URL like this: https://github.com/<owner>/<repository>/compare/<branch>?template=<template-name>.md. Is it correct?

[Natsoulas]

Yeah I have the url template option working and my org is using that now fairly easily

[ericpennachini]

But what is the point of what @Alhadkabir mentions, if it's impossible to visualize a dropdown menu?
It seems the only way to have multiple templates working is specifying the name in URL.

The "selector" should work in any repo? or could be a problem inside organization repos?

[fredsonchaves07]

Hi. How are you? I'm experiencing the same problem. As a temporary solution, I'm using @kuzma-rezchenko-EPAM's suggestion.

But I think this problem is happening because the template is probably not in the main branch. I think if it's in main or master it probably won't happen.

In my case here, the default branch configured is develop and it already has the template changes, but it still doesn't work.

[yesalphahere]

Why Only One "Auto-Fill" PR Template?

GitHub's PR template system was designed with simplicity in mind — one .github/pull_request_template.md that auto-populates the description box. A dropdown selector was never built into the UI.

But You Can Have Multiple Templates
GitHub does support multiple templates — they just aren't surfaced via a dropdown automatically.
Set them up like this:

.github/
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/
feature.md
bugfix.md
hotfix.md
infra.md

Then link to them via URL with a query param:
https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/compare/main...your-branch?template=feature.md

The "Dropdown" Workaround for Monorepos
Since GitHub won't show a picker natively, teams handle this a few ways:

A pinned wiki page / README with direct links per template — click the one you need before opening the PR
GitHub Actions that detect which folder was changed and comment the correct template onto the PR
A browser extension like Refined GitHub which adds template selection UI
CLI tools like the gh CLI with aliases that open PRs with the right ?template= param

Why GitHub Hasn't Added a Native Dropdown

It's a long-standing feature request (years old). GitHub's stance has essentially been that the URL query approach covers the use case — but the community disagrees, especially for monorepo teams like yours. You can upvote it on the GitHub Community forum.

TL;DR — GitHub supports multiple template files but you have to link to them manually. No native UI picker exists yet. The URL ?template= param is your best built-in option.