[GUIDE] Decrypt your OnePlus One

So you thought that encrypting your OnePlus One was a good idea? So did I. I had so many issues after having encrypted my One that I simply wanted to get rid of it. After a lot of searching, I didn't come across a simple guide to decrypt it. And here I am :)

First thing first. Did you know that TWRP doesn't do a _full_ nandroid backup? It backs up everything _except_ /data/media. That was basically the reason why I'm writing this.

What you need:

• An unlocked bootloader


• TWRP recovery (I was using 2.8.6.1 but any version might just work)


• An USB-OTG dongle with a memory stick that is large enough to hold all the data


• A full battery

Here are the steps:

1. Go into TWRP recovery and make a backup. Be sure to select the usb_otg as the target location for your backup


2. Go into TWRPs terminal and make a backup of your /data/media folder. When starting the terminal, you will be asked in which folder you want to start. Navigate to "/data/media" and ckicl "select". I used tar to achieve this. Simply type in "tar cvpzf /usb_otg/datamedia.gz ." (Note: there is a dot a the end!) and it will create an archive with everything in it including permissions.


3. Now wipe your device. *scary* I know... Still in TWRP go to "Wipe", "Format Data" and type in "yes". This won't just wipe your data but also wipe the encryption


4. Since our device is basically empty, we just have to restore eveything. Let's start by restoring the nandroid backup


5. After the nandroid backup, let's restore /data/media. For this go back into TWRP terminal. Starting folder will be "/data/media" again. Type in "tar xvpzf /usb_otg/datamedia.gz ." (Note: there is a dot a the end!) to restore everything.

There you go... OnePlus One decrypted! :)