25

Just upgraded my Nexus S to Android 4 aka Ice Cream Sandwich. Was looking through all the new features, and decided to enable encryption, which worked (and is working) just fine. Now I'm wondering if I can undo that and revert to an un-encrypted filesystem.

There does not seem to be an option in the settings area, and while I'm not fussed about doing a factory reset, I just wonder if I'm missing an obvious option somewhere. Can anyone help? Or even confirm that the factory reset is the only way out?

Improve this question
2
  • I just got my Galaxy Nexus, and was thinking about turning on full disk encryption... until I saw your question. Why do you want to undo it? Have you encountered any issues with it?
    – Daniel Liuzzi
    Commented Dec 27, 2011 at 4:12
  • No issues at all. This was just a result of my "Hey, I didn't read the warning screens properly and now I'm curious that there is no undo button" attitude :D
    – scuzzy-delta
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 21:32

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
26

There should have been a warning when you begin the encryption that you had to agree to. The only way to unencrypt it is to perform a factory reset, thereby wiping your data partition completely.

enter image description here

Improve this answer
3
  • Ah, so there is. Thanks! PS Isn't the new screenshot shortcut awesome!
    – scuzzy-delta
    Commented Dec 21, 2011 at 20:32
  • 2
    @scuzzy-delta: It's great for posting answers on this site, definitely :)
    – eldarerathis
    Commented Dec 21, 2011 at 20:35
  • 1
    A description of how to perform that factory reset would be helpful. I tried the the "factory reset" option in my custom recovery image, TWRP, and that did not seem to do the trick.
    – Jesse Hallett
    Commented Feb 11, 2013 at 7:08
8

I'm using Samsung Galaxy Note Android 4.0.3. and I've tried Encrypting and Decrypting several times successfully.

Samsung Note ICS Decryption

Improve this answer
5
  • 6
    That's a Samsung add-on.
    – user13391
    Commented Jun 2, 2012 at 4:09
  • 1
    A downvote for sharing my knowledge/experience :( if only i could post my screenshots on how I Undo my Disk Encryptions.
    – JonC PH
    Commented Jun 13, 2012 at 4:57
  • Wasn't me :) I just pointed out that it's not part of AOSP. That's why I hate it that downvotes are anon.
    – user13391
    Commented Jun 13, 2012 at 8:03
  • @richard im not saying you gave me a downvote :) no problem :) im just expressing how some people votes without considerations :)
    – JonC PH
    Commented Jun 14, 2012 at 13:13
  • 2
    I added a screenshot on how I decrypt or undo encrypt my device. thanks for the upvote that lifted my restriction for posting pictures. sorry guys i dont know how to make the image smaller.
    – JonC PH
    Commented Jun 14, 2012 at 13:33

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .