Heavy metal (HM) contamination is an escalating environmental concern emerging mainly due to anthropogenic processes such as agricultural activities, urbanization and industrialization. The HMs pose a serious threat to both ecosystems and life form due to its persistent and bioaccumulative nature. Unlike the biodegradable pollutants, HMs do not degrade over time and can only be detoxified into their least toxic forms. This makes detoxification of HMs a crucial process to mitigate metal-associated biological and environmental impacts. In such cases, phytoremediation is an emerging eco-friendly and low-cost strategy that can be effective for detoxification of HMs. Hence, this chapter explores the various physiological, biochemical and evolutionary metal transport mechanisms and detoxification processes in bryophytes to the higher plants. Bryophytes serve as excellent bioindicators due to their metal adsorption abilities, while the higher plants deploy complex mechanisms such as metal compartmentalization, chelation and antioxidant defences to detoxify HMs. Besides, the chapter also seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of HM detoxification in different plants emphasizing their potential role in sustainable environmental management.