Vegetation and fire regimes have changed over the last 21 000 years. Here, we compile pollen and charcoal records from the Neotropics to assess tree cover and fire activity trajectories and identify their main controls. We found that landscapes were shaped by an interplay of temperature, atmospheric CO₂, precipitation, vegetation-fire feedback, and human impacts. These drivers varied in importance across regions and time periods, leading to distinct responses under different boundary conditions.