diff --git a/core/commands/root.go b/core/commands/root.go
index 0c91208eb..13d459162 100644
--- a/core/commands/root.go
+++ b/core/commands/root.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ DATA STRUCTURE COMMANDS
 
     block         Interact with raw blocks in the datastore
     object        Interact with raw dag nodes
-    unixfs        Interact with Unix filesystem objects
+    file          Interact with Unix filesystem objects
 
 ADVANCED COMMANDS
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ var rootSubcommands = map[string]*cmds.Command{
 	"stats":     StatsCmd,
 	"swarm":     SwarmCmd,
 	"tour":      tourCmd,
-	"unixfs":    unixfs.UnixFSCmd,
+	"file":      unixfs.UnixFSCmd,
 	"update":    UpdateCmd,
 	"version":   VersionCmd,
 	"bitswap":   BitswapCmd,
diff --git a/core/commands/unixfs/unixfs.go b/core/commands/unixfs/unixfs.go
index de97c8a33..67a30c6cb 100644
--- a/core/commands/unixfs/unixfs.go
+++ b/core/commands/unixfs/unixfs.go
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ var UnixFSCmd = &cmds.Command{
 	Helptext: cmds.HelpText{
 		Tagline: "Interact with ipfs objects representing Unix filesystems",
 		ShortDescription: `
-'ipfs unixfs' provides a familar interface to filesystems represtented
+'ipfs file' provides a familar interface to filesystems represtented
 by IPFS objects that hides IPFS-implementation details like layout
 objects (e.g. fanout and chunking).
 `,
 		Synopsis: `
-ipfs unixfs ls <path>...  - List directory contents for <path>...
+ipfs file ls <path>...  - List directory contents for <path>...
 `,
 	},
 
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0200-unixfs-ls.sh b/test/sharness/t0200-unixfs-ls.sh
index 4d980e44e..ad6bf280a 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0200-unixfs-ls.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0200-unixfs-ls.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # MIT Licensed; see the LICENSE file in this repository.
 #
 
-test_description="Test unixfs ls command"
+test_description="Test file ls command"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
 
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ test_ls_cmd() {
 		test_cmp expected_add actual_add
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "'ipfs unixfs ls <three dir hashes>' succeeds" '
-		ipfs unixfs ls QmfNy183bXiRVyrhyWtq3TwHn79yHEkiAGFr18P7YNzESj QmR3jhV4XpxxPjPT3Y8vNnWvWNvakdcT3H6vqpRBsX1MLy QmSix55yz8CzWXf5ZVM9vgEvijnEeeXiTSarVtsqiiCJss >actual_ls
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs file ls <three dir hashes>' succeeds" '
+		ipfs file ls QmfNy183bXiRVyrhyWtq3TwHn79yHEkiAGFr18P7YNzESj QmR3jhV4XpxxPjPT3Y8vNnWvWNvakdcT3H6vqpRBsX1MLy QmSix55yz8CzWXf5ZVM9vgEvijnEeeXiTSarVtsqiiCJss >actual_ls
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "'ipfs unixfs ls <three dir hashes>' output looks good" '
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs file ls <three dir hashes>' output looks good" '
 		cat <<-\EOF >expected_ls &&
 			QmfNy183bXiRVyrhyWtq3TwHn79yHEkiAGFr18P7YNzESj:
 			d1
@@ -61,11 +61,11 @@ test_ls_cmd() {
 		test_cmp expected_ls actual_ls
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "'ipfs unixfs ls <file hashes>' succeeds" '
-		ipfs unixfs ls /ipfs/QmR3jhV4XpxxPjPT3Y8vNnWvWNvakdcT3H6vqpRBsX1MLy/1024 QmQNd6ubRXaNG6Prov8o6vk3bn6eWsj9FxLGrAVDUAGkGe >actual_ls_file
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs file ls <file hashes>' succeeds" '
+		ipfs file ls /ipfs/QmR3jhV4XpxxPjPT3Y8vNnWvWNvakdcT3H6vqpRBsX1MLy/1024 QmQNd6ubRXaNG6Prov8o6vk3bn6eWsj9FxLGrAVDUAGkGe >actual_ls_file
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "'ipfs unixfs ls <file hashes>' output looks good" '
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs file ls <file hashes>' output looks good" '
 		cat <<-\EOF >expected_ls_file &&
 			/ipfs/QmR3jhV4XpxxPjPT3Y8vNnWvWNvakdcT3H6vqpRBsX1MLy/1024
 			QmQNd6ubRXaNG6Prov8o6vk3bn6eWsj9FxLGrAVDUAGkGe