Decrypting

In short: Decrypting makes encrypted data readable again with the matching key.

In more detail: The difference to cracking: whoever owns the key decrypts quite normally. Without a key you try cryptanalysis or brute force.

In Depth

Symmetric and asymmetric

With AES the same key is needed. With RSA the private key decrypts what was encrypted with the public one.

Distinction from hashes

A hash cannot be decrypted (de-hashing). See encryption.

See also: Encryption, De-hashing, AES-256