The bleaching effect, i. e. the crystal shows that decoloration after it is illuminated by ultraviolet light, has been observed in congruent LiNbO3:Fe :Cu crystals. Based on this bleaching effect, a new technique including the reco rding phase by two interfering red beams and fixing phase by both UV light and a coherent red beam has been experimentally investigated to realize nonvolatile holographic storage in LiNbO3:Fe:Cu. The results of proof-of-concept experiments confirm that bleaching effect becomes an alternative physical mechanism for nonv olatile holographic storage with high recording sensitivity and weak light-induced scattering noise.