On disk they are near twins
Look at the profile folders and the artifact families are the same. Chrome keeps History, Cookies, Login Data and Cache_Data under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data; Firefox keeps places.sqlite, cookies.sqlite and the cache2 folder under %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles. Both store browsing history in SQLite databases that anyone with disk access can read, and both sync that history to a server if you sign in. Clearing one browser's traces therefore looks a lot like clearing the other's.
The built-in cleanup also mirrors almost one to one. Chrome offers Clear browsing data with time ranges; Firefox offers a nearly identical dialog with the same time ranges. Firefox adds one genuinely useful switch the competitor lacks: “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed”, which turns the profile into something that partially self-cleans on every exit.
Five settings that actually shrink the footprint
Bundled defaults protect you very little in either browser; the switches below do. Each takes under a minute, works in the current version, and closes a real data leak rather than a theoretical one. Set them once and the local footprint stays as small as it can reasonably get.
- Firefox: set Enhanced Tracking Protection to Strict (about:preferences#privacy) — Total Cookie Protection is included
- Firefox: enable “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed” for a profile that partly cleans itself
- Chrome: turn off enhanced spell check — it sends what you type in form fields to Google servers
- Chrome: turn off “Make searches and browsing better” — it forwards the URLs of pages you visit to your default search engine
- Chrome: stay signed out or pause sync — a Chrome without an account keeps its history local only
The honest verdict: the gap is on the server side
Locally, the two browsers leave almost interchangeable traces, and disciplined settings close most of the difference anyway. The real separation happens upstream: Mozilla runs no ad network and its telemetry is anonymous and opt-out, while a Google account signed into Chrome links your browsing to the same profile that follows you across Search, YouTube and Android. If you never sign into a Google account, the gap narrows dramatically.
So the honest answer is conditional. If you live in the Google ecosystem and stay signed in, Firefox leaves fewer traces by default and keeps more of what remains under your control. If you run Chrome unsigned with the switches above, you are not dramatically worse off — you just have fewer automatic protections.
Questions and Answers
Does incognito or private mode leave traces?
Locally it skips history, cookies and form data, but downloads, bookmarks and your provider's logs still exist. Incognito never hides anything from the sites themselves or from an account you are signed into.
Is Firefox really more private than Chrome?
On disk, barely — the traces are nearly identical. The difference is server-side: no ad network behind Mozilla, and no account that ties your browsing to a search-engine profile.
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