The fifth seed coasted through his opening two matches and while he was tested early by the world number 64, Murray's 7-5 6-1 6-4 win was still fairly comfortable.
Murray had only been broken twice in his first two matches but saw Serra twice break back in the opening set as the 22-year-old Scot was put under pressure for the first time in the tournament.
He responded to the challenge emphatically as he broke Serra for a third time to take the opening set in 52 minutes.
Murray then raced through the second set and when he broke Serra's opening two service games in the third, the result had suddenly become inevitable.
Murray's victory meant he at least fulfilled his modest pre-tournament ambition of matching his best result in Australia, the fourth round, and he will meet the winner of the match between another Frenchman, Gael Monfils, and American John Isner.
The British number one began with a bang, serving three consecutive aces and then breaking his opponent's first service game for the third match running to forge ahead 3-0.
But the Scot then hit a mid-set lull and Serra broke back, albeit after Murray pushed a simple volley wide to characterise a sloppy service game.
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