diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/5811-clarify-bitwarden-error.yml b/changelogs/fragments/5811-clarify-bitwarden-error.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..343faba478
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/5811-clarify-bitwarden-error.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - bitwarden lookup plugin - clarify what to do, if the bitwarden vault is not unlocked (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/5811).
diff --git a/plugins/lookup/bitwarden.py b/plugins/lookup/bitwarden.py
index dbcb88d456..344f960b0a 100644
--- a/plugins/lookup/bitwarden.py
+++ b/plugins/lookup/bitwarden.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class Bitwarden(object):
         return self._cli_path
 
     @property
-    def logged_in(self):
+    def unlocked(self):
         out, err = self._run(['status'], stdin="")
         decoded = AnsibleJSONDecoder().raw_decode(out)[0]
         return decoded['status'] == 'unlocked'
@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ class LookupModule(LookupBase):
         self.set_options(var_options=variables, direct=kwargs)
         field = self.get_option('field')
         search_field = self.get_option('search')
-        if not _bitwarden.logged_in:
-            raise AnsibleError("Not logged into Bitwarden. Run 'bw login'.")
+        if not _bitwarden.unlocked:
+            raise AnsibleError("Bitwarden Vault locked. Run 'bw unlock'.")
 
         return [_bitwarden.get_field(field, term, search_field) for term in terms]
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/plugins/lookup/test_bitwarden.py b/tests/unit/plugins/lookup/test_bitwarden.py
index 7f86c39697..90f3ff7751 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugins/lookup/test_bitwarden.py
+++ b/tests/unit/plugins/lookup/test_bitwarden.py
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ MOCK_RECORDS = [
 
 class MockBitwarden(Bitwarden):
 
-    logged_in = True
+    unlocked = True
 
     def _get_matches(self, search_value, search_field="name"):
         return list(filter(lambda record: record[search_field] == search_value, MOCK_RECORDS))
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class MockBitwarden(Bitwarden):
 
 class LoggedOutMockBitwarden(MockBitwarden):
 
-    logged_in = False
+    unlocked = False
 
 
 class TestLookupModule(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ class TestLookupModule(unittest.TestCase):
                          self.lookup.run(['a_test'])[0])
 
     @patch('ansible_collections.community.general.plugins.lookup.bitwarden._bitwarden', LoggedOutMockBitwarden())
-    def test_bitwarden_plugin_logged_out(self):
+    def test_bitwarden_plugin_unlocked(self):
         record = MOCK_RECORDS[0]
         record_name = record['name']
         with self.assertRaises(AnsibleError):