diff --git a/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_esp_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_esp_idf.cpp
index f391c1791aa..ade726da1fb 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_esp_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/ota/ota_backend_esp_idf.cpp
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ OTAResponseTypes IDFOTABackend::begin(size_t image_size, ota::OTAType ota_type)
       return OTA_RESPONSE_ERROR_ESP32_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE;
     } else if (err == ESP_ERR_FLASH_OP_TIMEOUT || err == ESP_ERR_FLASH_OP_FAIL) {
       return OTA_RESPONSE_ERROR_WRITING_FLASH;
+    } else if (err == ESP_ERR_OTA_PARTITION_CONFLICT) {
+      // This error appears with 1 factory and 1 ota partition
+      return OTA_RESPONSE_ERROR_NO_UPDATE_PARTITION;
     }
     return OTA_RESPONSE_ERROR_UNKNOWN;
   }
diff --git a/esphome/espota2.py b/esphome/espota2.py
index c13c3ea207f..701a125bcdb 100644
--- a/esphome/espota2.py
+++ b/esphome/espota2.py
@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ _ERROR_MESSAGES: dict[int, str] = {
     ),
     RESPONSE_ERROR_ESP32_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE: (
         "The OTA partition on the ESP is too small. ESPHome needs to resize "
-        "this partition, please flash over USB."
+        "this partition. Please flash over USB or update the partition table "
+        "over the air."
     ),
     RESPONSE_ERROR_NO_UPDATE_PARTITION: (
         "The OTA partition on the ESP couldn't be found. ESPHome needs to "
@@ -202,19 +203,19 @@ def receive_exactly(
     try:
         data += recv_decode(sock, 1, decode=decode)  # type: ignore[operator]
     except OSError as err:
-        raise OTAError(f"Error receiving acknowledge {msg}: {err}") from err
+        raise OTAError(f"receiving {msg} response: {err}") from err
 
     try:
         check_error(data, expect)
     except OTAError as err:
         sock.close()
-        raise OTAError(f"Error {msg}: {err}") from err
+        raise OTAError(f"receiving {msg}: {err}") from err
 
     while len(data) < amount:
         try:
             data += recv_decode(sock, amount - len(data), decode=decode)  # type: ignore[operator]
         except OSError as err:
-            raise OTAError(f"Error receiving {msg}: {err}") from err
+            raise OTAError(f"receiving {msg}: {err}") from err
     return data
 
 
@@ -231,14 +232,14 @@ def check_error(data: list[int] | bytes, expect: int | list[int] | None) -> None
     # silently passed through and surface later as cryptic decode/timeout failures.
     if not data:
         raise OTAError(
-            "Error: Device closed connection without responding. "
+            "Device closed connection without responding. "
             "This may indicate the device ran out of memory, "
             "a network issue, or the connection was interrupted."
         )
     dat = data[0]
     error_msg = _ERROR_MESSAGES.get(dat)
     if error_msg is not None:
-        raise OTAError(f"Error: {error_msg}")
+        raise OTAError(error_msg)
     if expect is None:
         return
     if not isinstance(expect, (list, tuple)):
@@ -267,7 +268,7 @@ def send_check(
 
         sock.sendall(data)
     except OSError as err:
-        raise OTAError(f"Error sending {msg}: {err}") from err
+        raise OTAError(f"sending {msg}: {err}") from err
 
 
 def perform_ota(
@@ -376,7 +377,7 @@ def perform_ota(
             raise OTAError("ESP requests password, but no password given!")
 
         nonce_bytes = receive_exactly(
-            sock, nonce_size, f"{hash_name} authentication nonce", None, decode=False
+            sock, nonce_size, f"{hash_name} auth nonce", None, decode=False
         )
         assert isinstance(nonce_bytes, bytes)
         nonce = nonce_bytes.decode()
@@ -424,13 +425,13 @@ def perform_ota(
         (upload_size >> 0) & 0xFF,
     ]
     send_check(sock, upload_size_encoded, "binary size")
-    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "binary size", RESPONSE_UPDATE_PREPARE_OK)
+    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "update prepare result", RESPONSE_UPDATE_PREPARE_OK)
 
     upload_md5 = hashlib.md5(upload_contents).hexdigest()
     _LOGGER.debug("MD5 of upload is %s", upload_md5)
 
     send_check(sock, upload_md5, "file checksum")
-    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "file checksum", RESPONSE_BIN_MD5_OK)
+    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "file checksum result", RESPONSE_BIN_MD5_OK)
 
     # Disable nodelay for transfer
     sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_NODELAY, 0)
@@ -451,10 +452,10 @@ def perform_ota(
         try:
             sock.sendall(chunk)
             if version >= OTA_VERSION_2_0:
-                receive_exactly(sock, 1, "chunk OK", RESPONSE_CHUNK_OK)
+                receive_exactly(sock, 1, "chunk result", RESPONSE_CHUNK_OK)
         except OSError as err:
             sys.stderr.write("\n")
-            raise OTAError(f"Error sending data: {err}") from err
+            raise OTAError(f"sending data: {err}") from err
 
         progress.update(offset / upload_size)
     progress.done()
@@ -465,8 +466,8 @@ def perform_ota(
 
     _LOGGER.info("Upload took %.2f seconds, waiting for result...", duration)
 
-    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "receive OK", RESPONSE_RECEIVE_OK)
-    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "Update end", RESPONSE_UPDATE_END_OK)
+    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "update receive result", RESPONSE_RECEIVE_OK)
+    receive_exactly(sock, 1, "update end result", RESPONSE_UPDATE_END_OK)
     send_check(sock, RESPONSE_OK, "end acknowledgement")
 
     _LOGGER.info("OTA successful")
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_espota2.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_espota2.py
index d7fcedfd66d..9413fbcf296 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_espota2.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_espota2.py
@@ -135,7 +135,9 @@ def test_receive_exactly_with_error_response(mock_socket: Mock) -> None:
     """Test receive_exactly raises OTAError on error response."""
     mock_socket.recv.return_value = bytes([espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_AUTH_INVALID])
 
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error auth:.*Authentication invalid"):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        espota2.OTAError, match="receiving auth:.*Authentication invalid"
+    ):
         espota2.receive_exactly(mock_socket, 1, "auth", [espota2.RESPONSE_OK])
 
     mock_socket.close.assert_called_once()
@@ -145,69 +147,69 @@ def test_receive_exactly_socket_error(mock_socket: Mock) -> None:
     """Test receive_exactly handles socket errors."""
     mock_socket.recv.side_effect = OSError("Connection reset")
 
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error receiving acknowledge test"):
+    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="receiving test response"):
         espota2.receive_exactly(mock_socket, 1, "test", espota2.RESPONSE_OK)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("error_code", "expected_msg"),
     [
-        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_MAGIC, "Error: Invalid magic byte"),
-        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_UPDATE_PREPARE, "Error: Couldn't prepare flash memory"),
-        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_AUTH_INVALID, "Error: Authentication invalid"),
+        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_MAGIC, "Invalid magic byte"),
+        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_UPDATE_PREPARE, "Couldn't prepare flash memory"),
+        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_AUTH_INVALID, "Authentication invalid"),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_WRITING_FLASH,
-            "Error: Writing OTA data to flash memory failed",
+            "Writing OTA data to flash memory failed",
         ),
-        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_UPDATE_END, "Error: Finishing update failed"),
+        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_UPDATE_END, "Finishing update failed"),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_INVALID_BOOTSTRAPPING,
-            "Error: Please press the reset button",
+            "Please press the reset button",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_WRONG_CURRENT_FLASH_CONFIG,
-            "Error: ESP has been flashed with wrong flash size",
+            "ESP has been flashed with wrong flash size",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_WRONG_NEW_FLASH_CONFIG,
-            "Error: ESP does not have the requested flash size",
+            "ESP does not have the requested flash size",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_ESP8266_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE,
-            "Error: ESP does not have enough space",
+            "ESP does not have enough space",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_ESP32_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE,
-            "Error: The OTA partition on the ESP is too small",
+            "The OTA partition on the ESP is too small",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_NO_UPDATE_PARTITION,
-            "Error: The OTA partition on the ESP couldn't be found",
+            "The OTA partition on the ESP couldn't be found",
         ),
-        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_MD5_MISMATCH, "Error: Application MD5 code mismatch"),
+        (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_MD5_MISMATCH, "Application MD5 code mismatch"),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_SIGNATURE_INVALID,
-            "Error: Firmware signature verification failed",
+            "Firmware signature verification failed",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_OTA_TYPE,
-            "Error: The requested OTA type is not supported by the device",
+            "The requested OTA type is not supported by the device",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_PARTITION_TABLE_VERIFY,
-            "Error: The partition table update could not be verified",
+            "The partition table update could not be verified",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_PARTITION_TABLE_UPDATE,
-            "Error: An error occurred while updating the partition table",
+            "An error occurred while updating the partition table",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_BOOTLOADER_VERIFY,
-            "Error: The bootloader update could not be verified",
+            "The bootloader update could not be verified",
         ),
         (
             espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_BOOTLOADER_UPDATE,
-            "Error: An error occurred while updating the bootloader",
+            "An error occurred while updating the bootloader",
         ),
         (espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_UNKNOWN, "Unknown error from ESP"),
     ],
@@ -262,7 +264,7 @@ def test_send_check_socket_error(mock_socket: Mock) -> None:
     """Test send_check handles socket errors."""
     mock_socket.sendall.side_effect = OSError("Broken pipe")
 
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error sending test"):
+    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="sending test"):
         espota2.send_check(mock_socket, b"data", "test")
 
 
@@ -417,7 +419,9 @@ def test_perform_ota_md5_auth_wrong_password(
 
     mock_socket.recv.side_effect = recv_responses
 
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error auth.*Authentication invalid"):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        espota2.OTAError, match="receiving auth.*Authentication invalid"
+    ):
         espota2.perform_ota(mock_socket, "wrongpassword", mock_file, "test.bin")
 
     # Verify the socket was closed after auth failure
@@ -441,7 +445,9 @@ def test_perform_ota_sha256_auth_wrong_password(
 
     mock_socket.recv.side_effect = recv_responses
 
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error auth.*Authentication invalid"):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        espota2.OTAError, match="receiving auth.*Authentication invalid"
+    ):
         espota2.perform_ota(mock_socket, "wrongpassword", mock_file, "test.bin")
 
     # Verify the socket was closed after auth failure
@@ -484,7 +490,7 @@ def test_perform_ota_unexpected_auth_response(mock_socket: Mock) -> None:
 
     # This will actually raise "Unexpected response from ESP" from check_error
     with pytest.raises(
-        espota2.OTAError, match=r"Error auth: Unexpected response from ESP: 0x03"
+        espota2.OTAError, match=r"receiving auth: Unexpected response from ESP: 0x03"
     ):
         espota2.perform_ota(mock_socket, "password", mock_file, "test.bin")
 
@@ -520,7 +526,7 @@ def test_perform_ota_upload_error(mock_socket: Mock, mock_file: io.BytesIO) -> N
 
     mock_socket.recv.side_effect = recv_responses
 
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error receiving acknowledge chunk OK"):
+    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="receiving chunk result response"):
         espota2.perform_ota(mock_socket, None, mock_file, "test.bin")
 
 
@@ -1109,7 +1115,7 @@ def test_check_error_detects_errors_when_expect_is_none() -> None:
     during feature negotiation and nonce reads) silently passed error bytes
     through, turning clean device errors into confusing later failures.
     """
-    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Error: Authentication invalid"):
+    with pytest.raises(espota2.OTAError, match="Authentication invalid"):
         espota2.check_error([espota2.RESPONSE_ERROR_AUTH_INVALID], None)