How can I disable the View as grid/list buttons in Magento 2.1?
You can choose the Catalog view option as grid only or list only. The default is Grid/List. You can change it to List/Grid as well.
To do so:
1) Go to Store -> Configuration -> Catalog -> Storefront
2) Change the List Mode.
If needed can be also applied from layout xml
catalog_category_view.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<page xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:View/Layout/etc/page_configuration.xsd">
<body>
<referenceBlock name="product_list_toolbar">
<action method="disableExpanded"/>
</referenceBlock>
</body>
</page>