diff --git a/Surface_mesh/doc/Surface_mesh/PackageDescription.txt b/Surface_mesh/doc/Surface_mesh/PackageDescription.txt
index 9ba18c274e7..f85b321c688 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh/doc/Surface_mesh/PackageDescription.txt
+++ b/Surface_mesh/doc/Surface_mesh/PackageDescription.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 /// \defgroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFunc I/O Functions
 /// \ingroup PkgSurface_mesh
 
+/// \defgroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated I/O Functions (Deprecated)
+/// \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFunc
+
 /*!
 \addtogroup PkgSurface_mesh
 \cgalPkgDescriptionBegin{Surface Mesh,PkgSurfaceMesh}
diff --git a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO.h b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO.h
index c9aaff8da6a..e36675f51f3 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO.h
+++ b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO.h
@@ -15,107 +15,37 @@
 
 #include <CGAL/license/Surface_mesh.h>
 
-#include <CGAL/Surface_mesh/Surface_mesh.h>
+#include <CGAL/Surface_mesh/Surface_mesh_fwd.h>
 
-#include <CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/3MF.h>
-#include <CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/OFF.h>
-#include <CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/PLY.h>
-
-#include <CGAL/assertions.h>
-#include <CGAL/Kernel_traits.h>
-#include <CGAL/use.h>
-
-#include <boost/array.hpp>
+#include <CGAL/boost/graph/io.h>
 
 #include <string>
-#include <fstream>
-#include <sstream>
-#include <cstring>
-#include <algorithm>
-#include <vector>
-#include <stdexcept>
 
 namespace CGAL {
 
-// @todo move that to read_polygon_mesh in BGL
+#ifndef CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
-/// \addtogroup PkgSurfaceMeshIO
-///
-/// I/O functionality for `Surface_mesh`. The top-level functions
-/// `read_mesh()` and `write_mesh()` dispatch on the available readers
-/// according to the file extension. Currently only `OFF` files are
-/// supported.
-///
-/// @{
-
-#if 0
-/// Read a file into a `Surface_mesh`. The extension of the
-/// filename determines which reader is used.
-///
-/// Mapping from extension to reader:
-/// - off/OFF -> `read_OFF()`
-///
-/// @param mesh The mesh that should contain the input.
-/// @param filename The name of the file to be read.
-///
-/// @return `true`, if reading succeeded, `false` otherwise
-///
-#endif
+/*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
+  \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::read_polygon_mesh()` should be used instead.
+*/
 template <typename K>
-bool read_mesh(Surface_mesh<K>& mesh, const std::string& filename)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool read_mesh(Surface_mesh<K>& sm, const std::string& filename)
 {
-  // clear mesh before reading from file
-  mesh.clear();
-
-  // extract file extension
-  std::string::size_type dot(filename.rfind("."));
-  if(dot == std::string::npos) return false;
-  std::string ext = filename.substr(dot+1, filename.length()-dot-1);
-  std::transform(ext.begin(), ext.end(), ext.begin(), ::tolower);
-
-  // extension determines reader
-  if(ext == "off")
-  {
-    return read_OFF(filename, mesh);
-  }
-
-  // we didn't find a reader module
-  return false;
+  return read_polygon_mesh(filename, sm);
 }
 
-#if 0
-/// Write a `Surface_mesh` to a file. The extension of the
-/// filename determines which writer is used.
-///
-/// Mapping from extension to writer:
-/// - off/OFF -> `write_off()`
-///
-/// @param mesh The mesh to be written.
-/// @param filename The name of the file to be written.
-///
-/// @return `true`, if writing succeeded, `false` otherwise
-///
-#endif
+/*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
+  \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::write_polygon_mesh()` should be used instead.
+*/
 template <typename K>
-bool write_mesh(const Surface_mesh<K>& mesh, const std::string& filename)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool write_mesh(const Surface_mesh<K>& mesh, const std::string& filename)
 {
-  // extract file extension
-  std::string::size_type dot(filename.rfind("."));
-  if(dot == std::string::npos) return false;
-  std::string ext = filename.substr(dot+1, filename.length()-dot-1);
-  std::transform(ext.begin(), ext.end(), ext.begin(), ::tolower);
-
-  // extension determines reader
-  if(ext == "off")
-  {
-    return write_OFF(filename, mesh);
-  }
-
-  // we didn't find a writer module
-  return false;
+  return write_polygon_mesh(filename, mesh);
 }
 
-/// @}
+#endif // CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 } // namespace CGAL
 
diff --git a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/3MF.h b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/3MF.h
index e9ac6e976ac..fdb5e7b075f 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/3MF.h
+++ b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/3MF.h
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ int read_3MF(const std::string& filename,
 #ifndef CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::read_3MF()` should be used instead.
 */
 template<typename Point>
diff --git a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/OFF.h b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/OFF.h
index 6202a7c9b9f..6e8d2bb1e74 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/OFF.h
+++ b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/OFF.h
@@ -346,23 +346,35 @@ bool read_OFF(std::istream& is,
 #ifndef CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::read_OFF(std::istream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
 */
 template <typename Point, typename CGAL_BGL_NP_TEMPLATE_PARAMETERS>
-bool read_off(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<Point>& sm, const CGAL_BGL_NP_CLASS& np)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool read_off(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<Point>& sm, const CGAL_BGL_NP_CLASS& np)
 {
   return read_OFF(is, sm, np);
 }
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::read_OFF(std::istream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
 */
 template <typename Point>
-bool read_off(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<Point>& sm)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool read_off(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<Point>& sm)
 {
   return read_OFF(is, sm, parameters::all_default());
 }
 
+/*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
+  \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::read_OFF(std::istream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
+*/
+template <typename Point>
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool read_off(Surface_mesh<Point>& sm, const std::string& filename)
+{
+  return read_OFF(filename, sm, parameters::all_default());
+}
+
 #endif // CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -573,23 +585,35 @@ bool write_OFF(std::ostream& os, const Surface_mesh<Point>& sm)
 #ifndef CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::write_OFF(std::ostream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
 */
 template <typename Point, typename CGAL_BGL_NP_TEMPLATE_PARAMETERS>
-bool write_off(std::ostream& os, const Surface_mesh<Point>& sm, const CGAL_BGL_NP_CLASS& np)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool write_off(std::ostream& os, const Surface_mesh<Point>& sm, const CGAL_BGL_NP_CLASS& np)
 {
   return write_OFF(os, sm, np);
 }
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::write_OFF(std::ostream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
 */
 template <typename Point>
-bool write_off(std::ostream& os, const Surface_mesh<Point>& sm)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool write_off(std::ostream& os, const Surface_mesh<Point>& sm)
 {
   return write_OFF(os, sm, parameters::all_default());
 }
 
+/*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
+  \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::write_OFF(std::ostream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
+*/
+template <typename Point>
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool write_off(const Surface_mesh<Point>& sm, const std::string& filename)
+{
+  return write_OFF(filename, sm, parameters::all_default());
+}
+
 #endif // CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 } // namespace CGAL
diff --git a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/PLY.h b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/PLY.h
index 23ae67de6f9..ae8e67105e4 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/PLY.h
+++ b/Surface_mesh/include/CGAL/Surface_mesh/IO/PLY.h
@@ -848,11 +848,12 @@ bool read_PLY(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<P>& sm)
 #ifndef CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::read_PLY(std::ostream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
 */
 
 template <typename P>
-bool read_ply(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<P>& sm, std::string& comments)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool read_ply(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<P>& sm, std::string& comments)
 {
   return read_PLY(is, sm, comments);
 }
@@ -1116,11 +1117,12 @@ bool write_PLY(std::ostream& os, const Surface_mesh<P>& sm)
 #ifndef CGAL_NO_DEPRECATED_CODE
 
 /*!
+  \ingroup PkgSurfaceMeshIOFuncDeprecated
   \deprecated This function is deprecated since \cgal 5.2, `CGAL::write_PLY(std::ostream&, const Surface_mesh<Point>&)` should be used instead.
 */
 
 template <typename P>
-bool write_ply(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<P>& sm, std::string& comments)
+CGAL_DEPRECATED bool write_ply(std::istream& is, Surface_mesh<P>& sm, std::string& comments)
 {
   return write_PLY(is, sm, comments);
 }