In this video, I show you how to decrypt an Android phone in 2024 using a simple, practical method that works the same across Android versions. I’m doing it on a Redmi Note 9 Pro Max running Android 14, where I was using a custom ROM (Project Elixir) and the phone was still showing as encrypted in Security & privacy > More security settings > Encryption & credentials. I also explain the real reason people do this: the main advantage is you can flash as many custom ROMs as you want without formatting every time, but the disadvantage is privacy concerns—so you should understand what you’re trading off. To decrypt, you need two files: a ROM zip and a device-specific decryptor file (this part is important, because every phone has its own decryptor). Then you boot into a custom recovery like OrangeFox (which means your bootloader must be unlocked), wipe partitions like Dalvik/Cache and Data, and flash the ROM zip first, then queue the decryptor zip after it. After flashing, I do a final Format Data (type “yes”), which fully wipes internal storage, so backup is a must. Once the phone boots up, I re-check the encryption status and you’ll see it changes to “not encrypted,” confirming the decrypt is successful.