diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/60737-xenserver_guest-vbd-plug-fix.yml b/changelogs/fragments/60737-xenserver_guest-vbd-plug-fix.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cc50b166782
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/60737-xenserver_guest-vbd-plug-fix.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- xenserver_guest - when adding disks to a VM in powered on state, disks are now properly plugged/activated (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/60693).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/xenserver/xenserver_guest.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/xenserver/xenserver_guest.py
index 4f3be77d73d..a92cfda5961 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/xenserver/xenserver_guest.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/xenserver/xenserver_guest.py
@@ -708,7 +708,11 @@ class XenServerVM(XenServerObject):
                             }
 
                             new_disk_vbd['VDI'] = self.xapi_session.xenapi.VDI.create(new_disk_vdi)
-                            self.xapi_session.xenapi.VBD.create(new_disk_vbd)
+                            vbd_ref_new = self.xapi_session.xenapi.VBD.create(new_disk_vbd)
+
+                            if self.vm_params['power_state'].lower() == "running":
+                                self.xapi_session.xenapi.VBD.plug(vbd_ref_new)
+
                     elif change.get('cdrom'):
                         vm_cdrom_params_list = [cdrom_params for cdrom_params in self.vm_params['VBDs'] if cdrom_params['type'] == "CD"]