My ex still lives inside our shared streaming profile, and deleting it feels harsher than the breakup

My ex moved out four months ago. We divided the practical things quickly: dishes, books, the security deposit, the plant neither of us actually wanted. The shared streaming profile remained because it was invisible and easy to postpone.

It still has both of our names. The watchlist contains a documentary he saved for us, three seasons of a comedy I kept promising to try, and a row of “continue watching” tiles from nights when we fell asleep on the couch. The recommendations are an accidental portrait of the relationship: his crime shows, my old musicals, cooking competitions we watched only when one of us was sick.

I use a separate profile now, so there is no technical reason to open the old one. I opened it last weekend anyway. A series we had abandoned had released new episodes, and for a few seconds I imagined sending him a screenshot. We are not in contact. The breakup was not explosive, but it was final.

My sister says I should delete the profile because keeping it is a small way of keeping a door unlocked. She offered to do it for me, which made the whole thing suddenly feel ceremonial. I do not think a thumbnail carousel is preventing me from moving on. At the same time, I cannot explain why removing it feels like erasing evidence that our ordinary evenings happened.

There is also an embarrassing fairness question. The account is mine. He has not logged in since he left, as far as I know, and I am not waiting for him to return. Yet deleting a profile with his name feels more personal than packing his sweater did. A sweater can be given back. This little archive simply disappears.

I could photograph the watchlist and delete the profile. I could rename it and let the recommendations slowly change. I could leave it untouched until it becomes emotionally boring. None of those choices is consequential, which may be why I keep giving the decision so much meaning.

What would you do with a shared entertainment profile after a relationship ends? Is saving a record before deleting it a gentle transition, or does that turn an algorithmic pile of viewing history into a shrine it never needed to become?